Toro Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:TTC)

Toro Company (The) (NYSE:TTC) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 1,176 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,709% compared to the average daily volume of 65 put options.

Toro Price Performance

Shares of TTC opened at $73.38 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.46. Toro has a 12-month low of $62.34 and a 12-month high of $89.50. The stock has a market cap of $7.18 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Toro Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be given a $0.39 dividend. This is an increase from Toro’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Toro’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on TTC shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Toro from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Toro in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Northland Securities boosted their price target on Toro from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Toro from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Longbow Research upgraded shares of Toro from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.60.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in shares of Toro by 94.1% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Davis Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Toro during the third quarter worth about $42,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in Toro in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Toro during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Toro during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $97,000. 87.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.