Traders Buy Large Volume of Toro Put Options (NYSE:TTC)

The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders purchased 1,176 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,709% compared to the average volume of 65 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on TTC. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Toro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Toro from $102.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Toro in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their target price on Toro from $103.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TTC. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Toro by 0.4% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 28,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,682,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Toro by 0.3% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 46,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,405,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Toro by 22.4% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 908 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Toro by 1,204.8% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. 87.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Toro Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:TTC opened at $87.09 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.16. Toro has a twelve month low of $77.15 and a twelve month high of $102.00. 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 company has a market capitalization of $8.94 billion, a PE ratio of 34.40 and a beta of 0.69.

Toro (NYSE:TTC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.05). The firm 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Toro will post 4.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Toro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Toro’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.92%.

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.