Toro Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:TTC)

The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 1,176 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,709% compared to the average volume of 65 put options.

Toro Stock Performance

NYSE:TTC traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $79.23. The stock had a trading volume of 729,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 740,248. Toro has a twelve month low of $77.15 and a twelve month high of $100.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.94.

Toro (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.95. Toro had a return on equity of 25.94% and a net margin of 8.89%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Toro will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Toro Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 23rd. This is a boost from Toro's previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Toro's dividend payout ratio is 37.91%.

Toro announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 10th that permits the company to repurchase 4,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Raymond James reduced their price objective on Toro from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toro

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TTC. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Toro by 112.1% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 630 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in Toro by 850.0% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 855 shares of the company's stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Toro by 15.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,063 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Toro by 534.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,333 shares of the company's stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Toro by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,540 shares of the company's stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. 87.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Toro

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.