Fmr LLC Cuts Holdings in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC)

Fmr LLC cut its position in shares of The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,955 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,625 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Toro were worth $2,338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Toro by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 28,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,682,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Toro by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 46,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,405,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC raised its holdings in shares of Toro by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 4,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Toro by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 10,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $941,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in Toro by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. 87.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Toro Trading Up 0.7 %

TTC opened at $88.32 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $84.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.96. The company has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.18 and a beta of 0.70. The Toro Company has a 52 week low of $77.15 and a 52 week high of $102.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Toro announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 10th that permits the company to buyback 4,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Toro Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be given a $0.38 dividend. This is a boost from Toro’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Toro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on TTC. StockNews.com upgraded Toro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Toro in a report on Friday, September 6th. 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Toro from $102.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.33.

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.