Toro Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:TTC)

The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 1,176 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,709% compared to the typical volume of 65 put options.

Toro Stock Up 1.8 %

Toro stock opened at $73.91 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $78.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.76. The stock has a market cap of $7.38 billion, a PE ratio of 18.43 and a beta of 0.72. Toro has a 1-year low of $71.23 and a 1-year high of $100.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Toro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Toro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.87%.

Toro announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to buyback 4,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TTC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Northland Capmk raised shares of Toro from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Toro from $86.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Northland Securities raised Toro from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com lowered Toro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Toro from $88.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Toro currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.75.

Institutional Trading of Toro

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TTC. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in Toro by 127.2% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Toro in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Toro by 30.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Toro by 195.7% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 547 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Toro by 54.6% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 807 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.95% of the company’s stock.

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.