The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) Shares Sold by Confluence Investment Management LLC

Confluence Investment Management LLC cut its position in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 229,631 shares of the company’s stock after selling 748 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.23% of Toro worth $18,393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Toro by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 28,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,682,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Lindenwold Advisors INC increased its stake in shares of Toro by 2.8% in the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 4,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Toro by 1.4% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 10,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $941,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in Toro by 15.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Toro by 1.0% in the third quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 15,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,318,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. 87.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Toro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TTC traded down $0.36 during trading on Thursday, reaching $79.74. The stock had a trading volume of 172,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 860,444. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.94. The Toro Company has a 1-year low of $77.15 and a 1-year high of $100.93. The stock has a market cap of $8.07 billion, a PE ratio of 20.93 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $83.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.39.

Toro (NYSE:TTC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Toro had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 25.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Toro Company will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Toro announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan 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 plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Toro Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 23rd. This is a boost from Toro’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Toro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James dropped their target price on Toro from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Toro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Toro in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Toro from $102.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.75.

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.