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

The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 1,176 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,709% compared to the average daily volume of 65 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toro

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Toro by 112.1% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Toro by 522.6% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 716 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Toro during the 1st quarter worth $66,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Toro by 850.0% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 765 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position 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 during the period. 87.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Toro Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TTC traded down $1.15 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $80.95. 526,523 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 871,382. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $8.31 billion, a PE ratio of 21.25 and a beta of 0.69. Toro has a 12 month low of $77.15 and a 12 month high of $102.00. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $83.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.13.

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

Toro Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 1.78%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Toro’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on TTC shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Toro from $102.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Toro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Toro from $103.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Toro in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Toro presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.