Retirement Systems of Alabama Decreases Position in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC)

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its position in shares of The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC - Free Report) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 140,162 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,269 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.14% of Toro worth $12,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its position in shares of Toro by 1.6% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 5,519,407 shares of the company's stock valued at $516,120,000 after purchasing an additional 88,536 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Toro by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,766,046 shares of the company's stock valued at $445,673,000 after buying an additional 65,800 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Toro by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,959,875 shares of the company's stock valued at $169,639,000 after buying an additional 29,105 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Toro by 13.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 901,346 shares of the company's stock worth $84,279,000 after buying an additional 110,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Toro by 11.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 64,660 shares during the period. 87.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Toro Price Performance

NYSE:TTC traded down $1.94 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $86.38. The company had a trading volume of 1,010,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 850,221. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $84.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.02. The Toro Company has a 52-week low of $77.15 and a 52-week high of $102.00. 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 company has a market capitalization of $8.86 billion, a PE ratio of 22.67 and a beta of 0.70.

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

Toro Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 23rd. This is a positive change from Toro's previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Toro's dividend payout ratio is 39.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on TTC shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Toro from $102.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. DA Davidson dropped 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. Northland Securities restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Toro in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Toro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.33.

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.