Trexquant Investment LP Lowers Holdings in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC)

Trexquant Investment LP decreased its position in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC - Free Report) by 34.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 229,339 shares of the company's stock after selling 118,199 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned 0.23% of Toro worth $18,370,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in TTC. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Toro by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,418 shares of the company's stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Toro by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the company's stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Toro by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 65,437 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,242,000 after acquiring an additional 17,525 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Toro by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 13,116 shares of the company's stock worth $1,051,000 after purchasing an additional 879 shares during the period. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Toro during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,734,000. Institutional investors own 87.95% of the company's stock.

Toro Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of TTC traded down $2.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $65.63. The company had a trading volume of 1,467,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 960,027. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The Toro Company has a fifty-two week low of $63.71 and a fifty-two week high of $100.93. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.50. The stock has a market cap of $6.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.37 and a beta of 0.72.

Toro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Toro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.87%.

Toro announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase 4,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on TTC shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Toro from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Northland Securities raised shares of Toro from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Toro from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Toro from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Toro from $88.00 to $84.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.75.

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.