Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seventeen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $40.4583.

TOST has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Toast in a research report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Toast from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $43.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Toast from $51.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Evercore upgraded shares of Toast from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, UBS Group set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Toast in a research report on Friday, February 13th.

Toast Price Performance

TOST stock opened at $30.54 on Friday. Toast has a 1 year low of $24.35 and a 1 year high of $49.66. The company has a market cap of $16.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.56 and a beta of 1.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $31.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.50.

Toast (NYSE:TOST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.08). Toast had a net margin of 5.56% and a return on equity of 18.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Toast will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Toast declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Toast

In other news, President Stephen Fredette sold 1,060 shares of Toast stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.34, for a total transaction of $32,160.40. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 913,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,702,452.78. The trade was a 0.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Aman Narang sold 1,648 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.34, for a total value of $50,000.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 340,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,337,535.82. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 100,856 shares of company stock valued at $3,540,449 in the last ninety days. 12.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toast

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TOST. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Toast by 1,555.5% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 17,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,000 after purchasing an additional 16,379 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH bought a new position in Toast in the 2nd quarter worth $372,000. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in Toast by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 24,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,080,000 after buying an additional 2,794 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in Toast by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 34,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,536,000 after buying an additional 1,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Toast by 860.0% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 251,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,124,000 after acquiring an additional 224,991 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.91% of the company’s stock.

About Toast

Toast, Inc (NYSE: TOST) is a technology company that builds a cloud-based platform for restaurants and other foodservice businesses. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Toast offers integrated point-of-sale (POS) systems and a suite of software and hardware designed to streamline front-of-house and back-of-house operations. The company went public in 2021 and has positioned itself as a vertically integrated provider for the restaurant industry.

Toast’s product portfolio includes touchscreen POS terminals and handheld order-and-pay devices, kitchen display systems, and peripherals tailored for high-volume foodservice environments.