Eagle Asset Management Inc. Purchases New Shares in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 14,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,261,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Toro by 37,332.5% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 470,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,034,000 after acquiring an additional 469,643 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Toro by 682.7% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 482,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,085,000 after acquiring an additional 420,539 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Toro by 11,970.3% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 393,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,750,000 after acquiring an additional 389,752 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC purchased a new position in Toro during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,146,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Toro in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,166,000. 87.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Toro Price Performance

NYSE TTC opened at $87.28 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.91 and a beta of 0.69. The Toro Company has a 12-month low of $77.15 and a 12-month high of $102.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $83.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.94.

Toro (NYSE:TTC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 5th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. Toro had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 25.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Toro Company will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Toro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Toro’s dividend payout ratio is 37.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on TTC. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Toro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target 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 price objective on shares of Toro in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Toro from $103.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Toro has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.33.

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.