Investors Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Toro (NYSE:TTC)

The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 1,176 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,709% compared to the typical volume of 65 put options.

Toro Trading Down 0.4 %

TTC stock traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $82.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 134,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 871,166. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $83.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Toro has a 52 week low of $77.15 and a 52 week high of $102.00. The stock has a market cap of $8.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.70 and a beta of 0.69.

Toro (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 5th. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. Toro had a return on equity of 25.94% and a net margin of 8.89%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Toro will post 4.16 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Toro's dividend payout ratio is 37.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. PEAK6 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Toro during the third quarter worth about $1,248,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Toro by 11.7% during 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 worth $53,685,000 after acquiring an additional 64,660 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Toro by 4.3% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 37,201 shares of the company's stock worth $3,226,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Toro by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 4,282 shares of the company's stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thematics Asset Management boosted its stake in Toro by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thematics Asset Management now owns 151,473 shares of the company's stock worth $13,137,000 after purchasing an additional 26,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on TTC shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective 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 reduced their price objective on Toro from $103.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 9th. Northland Securities restated a "market perform" rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Toro in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Toro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Toro presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.