The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) Shares Bought by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,251 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 723 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Toro were worth $542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Toro by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 28,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,682,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Toro by 0.3% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 46,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,405,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of Toro by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 10,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $941,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Toro by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Toro by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 15,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,318,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. 87.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on TTC shares. StockNews.com raised Toro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Toro from $103.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 9th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Toro in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Toro from $102.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.33.

Toro Stock Performance

Shares of Toro stock opened at $81.50 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.94. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $85.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.35. The company has a market cap of $8.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39 and a beta of 0.69. The Toro Company has a one year low of $77.15 and a one year high of $102.00.

Toro (NYSE:TTC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.05). Toro had a return on equity of 25.94% and a net margin of 8.89%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that The Toro Company will post 4.16 EPS for the current year.

Toro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Toro’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.80%.

Toro Profile

The Toro Company designs, manufactures, markets, and sells professional turf maintenance equipment and services. It operates through two segments: Professional and Residential. The Professional segment offers turf and landscape equipment products, including sports fields and grounds mowing and maintenance equipment, golf course mowing and maintenance equipment, landscape contractor mowing equipment, landscape creation and renovation equipment, and other maintenance equipment; rental, specialty, and underground construction equipment, such as horizontal directional drills, walk and ride trenchers, stand-on skid steers, vacuum excavators, stump grinders, turf renovation products, asset locators, pipe rehabilitation solutions, materials handling equipment, and other after-market tools; and snow and ice management equipment, such as snowplows, as well as stand-on snow and ice removal equipment, such as snowplow, snow brush, and snow thrower attachments, salt and sand spreaders, and related parts and accessories for light and medium duty trucks, utility task vehicles, skid steers, and front-end loaders.