Nuance Investments LLC Acquires Shares of 336,057 The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC)

Nuance Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 336,057 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,146,000. Nuance Investments LLC owned about 0.33% of Toro at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of TTC. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Toro by 522.6% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 716 shares of the company's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 765 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Toro by 22.4% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 908 shares of the company's stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Toro by 15.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,063 shares of the company's stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. 87.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Toro Stock Performance

Shares of Toro stock traded up $1.06 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $81.88. 466,145 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 865,914. The stock's fifty day moving average is $83.81 and its 200 day moving average is $88.04. The stock has a market cap of $8.40 billion, a PE ratio of 21.38 and a beta of 0.69. 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 Toro Company has a 12 month low of $77.15 and a 12 month high of $102.00.

Toro (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. Toro had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 25.94%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Toro Company will post 4.16 EPS for the current year.

Toro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Toro's payout ratio is 37.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on TTC. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Toro from $102.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Toro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Toro from $103.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Northland Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Toro in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.33.

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.