Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) Downgraded by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods to Market Perform

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $164.00 target price on the construction company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $168.00.

Several other brokerages have also commented on TOL. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Toll Brothers from $168.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Toll Brothers in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Toll Brothers from $116.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Toll Brothers from $130.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Toll Brothers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.33.

Toll Brothers Price Performance

NYSE TOL opened at $145.59 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 4.52. The company has a market capitalization of $14.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.03, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $153.92 and a 200 day moving average of $139.06. Toll Brothers has a one year low of $91.92 and a one year high of $169.52.

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The construction company reported $4.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.34 by $0.29. Toll Brothers had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.11 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Toll Brothers will post 13.52 EPS for the current year.

Toll Brothers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. Toll Brothers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Martin P. Connor sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.44, for a total value of $777,200.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,511,032.24. The trade was a 33.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Douglas C. Jr. Yearley sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.23, for a total value of $3,955,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 221,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,029,273.86. This represents a 10.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 106,000 shares of company stock worth $16,435,800 in the last three months. 1.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Toll Brothers

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TOL. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Toll Brothers by 549.5% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 21,199 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,442,000 after purchasing an additional 17,935 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Toll Brothers during the 2nd quarter valued at about $216,000. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Toll Brothers by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,926 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in Toll Brothers by 592.6% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,967 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 1,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Toll Brothers during the second quarter worth approximately $274,000. 91.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Toll Brothers

Toll Brothers, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, builds, markets, sells, and arranges finance for a range of detached and attached homes in luxury residential communities in the United States. It designs, builds, markets, and sells condominiums through Toll Brothers City Living. The company also develops a range of single-story living and first-floor primary bedroom suite home designs, as well as communities with recreational amenities, such as golf courses, marinas, pool complexes, country clubs, and fitness and recreation centers; and develops, operates, and rents apartments.