Toro (NYSE:TTC) Shares Down 5.9% - Here's Why

Shares of The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) traded down 5.9% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $74.12 and last traded at $73.38. 273,490 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 890,845 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.01.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Toro from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Toro from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Toro from $88.00 to $84.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Toro from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Toro from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Toro currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $91.75.

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Toro Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $7.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.31 and a beta of 0.70. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $80.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.81.

Toro (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.95. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Toro had a net margin of 9.14% and a return on equity of 27.25%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Toro Company will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Toro Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a positive change from Toro's previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Toro's payout ratio is presently 38.87%.

Toro declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 10th that allows the company to buyback 4,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toro

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TTC. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Toro by 127.2% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 368 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Toro during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Toro by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 547 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Toro by 195.7% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 547 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Toro by 54.6% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 807 shares of the company's stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.95% of the company's stock.

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.