Verition Fund Management LLC Buys 13,776 Shares of The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC)

Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in shares of The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC - Free Report) by 127.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,606 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,776 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC's holdings in Toro were worth $2,134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TTC. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Toro by 112.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 630 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in Toro by 850.0% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 855 shares of the company's stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Toro by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 908 shares of the company's stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Toro by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,063 shares of the company's stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Toro in the second quarter valued at approximately $94,000. 87.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Toro Stock Performance

Shares of TTC traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $86.19. The stock had a trading volume of 516,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 851,069. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.78. The firm has a market cap of $8.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.62 and a beta of 0.70. The Toro Company has a one year low of $77.15 and a one year 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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.05). Toro had a return on equity of 25.94% and a net margin of 8.89%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Toro's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Toro Company will post 4.16 EPS for the current year.

Toro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Toro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on TTC. Northland Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Toro in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Toro from $102.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. StockNews.com raised Toro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price target 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.33.

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.