Investors Purchase High Volume of Toro Put Options (NYSE:TTC)

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

Toro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TTC opened at $91.44 on Thursday. Toro has a one year low of $77.15 and a one year high of $106.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $88.51 and a 200-day moving average of $90.48. The company has a market capitalization of $9.50 billion, a PE ratio of 36.14 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.93.

Toro (NYSE:TTC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 6th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Toro had a return on equity of 25.04% and a net margin of 6.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Toro will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Toro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 18th. Toro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Toro

In related news, CEO Richard M. Olson sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.19, for a total value of $1,903,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 17,913 shares in the company, valued at $1,705,138.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toro

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Toro during the third quarter worth $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Toro by 135.9% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 302 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Toro by 1,204.8% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 274 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Toro during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in Toro by 2,057.1% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 302 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. 87.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Toro from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Toro from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Toro from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.75.

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.