Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Toro Put Options (NYSE:TTC)

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on TTC. StockNews.com lowered Toro from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Northland Capmk upgraded Toro from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Toro from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Northland Securities raised shares of Toro from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Toro from $86.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Toro has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.75.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toro

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Toro by 59.7% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 55,621 shares of the company's stock worth $4,824,000 after acquiring an additional 20,783 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Toro by 18.3% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 4,282 shares of the company's stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Toro by 4.3% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 37,201 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Toro by 11.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 618,986 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,685,000 after buying an additional 64,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PEAK6 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Toro during the third quarter valued at $1,248,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.95% of the company's stock.

Toro Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE TTC traded down $1.28 during trading on Monday, reaching $64.45. The company had a trading volume of 1,351,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 961,588. Toro has a 12-month low of $62.88 and a 12-month high of $100.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business's 50-day moving average is $77.10 and its 200 day moving average is $81.32. The stock has a market cap of $6.43 billion, a PE ratio of 16.07 and a beta of 0.72.

Toro declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 10th that permits the company to repurchase 4,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Toro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. Toro's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.87%.

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.