13,966 Shares in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) Purchased by Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new position in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 13,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,211,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Toro by 24.5% in the third quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 144,438 shares of the company's stock worth $12,527,000 after acquiring an additional 28,453 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in shares of Toro by 3.0% during the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 325,053 shares of the company's stock worth $30,396,000 after buying an additional 9,371 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Toro by 20.2% in the first quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 138,568 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,697,000 after buying an additional 23,270 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its position in Toro by 19.6% during the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 55,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,040,000 after acquiring an additional 9,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc bought a new position in shares of Toro in the 1st quarter worth about $1,139,000. 87.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Toro Stock Up 1.1 %

TTC stock traded up $0.93 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $82.80. 69,650 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 862,394. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $83.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.00. The stock has a market cap of $8.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.49 and a beta of 0.69. The Toro Company has a fifty-two week low of $77.15 and a fifty-two week high of $102.00.

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

Toro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Toro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TTC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Toro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Northland Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Toro in a report on Friday, September 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Toro from $102.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Toro from $103.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.33.

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.