Traders Purchase Large Volume of Toro Put Options (NYSE:TTC)

The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 1,176 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,709% compared to the typical daily volume of 65 put options.

Toro Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE TTC opened at $81.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.43 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $83.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.92. Toro has a 12 month low of $77.15 and a 12 month high of $100.93.

Toro (NYSE:TTC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.95. Toro had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 25.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Toro will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Toro Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd. This is an increase from Toro’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Toro’s payout ratio is currently 37.91%.

Toro declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 10th that permits the company to buyback 4,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on TTC shares. StockNews.com upgraded Toro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Toro from $103.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Toro from $102.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Toro from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Toro in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toro

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TTC. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Toro by 112.1% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in Toro by 850.0% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 855 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in Toro in the 2nd quarter valued at about $94,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Toro by 534.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 1,123 shares in the last quarter. 87.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Toro Company 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.