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

Toro Company (The) (NYSE:TTC) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 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.

Toro Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:TTC opened at $94.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.27 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $95.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.43. Toro has a 52-week low of $62.34 and a 52-week high of $105.18.

Toro (NYSE:TTC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. Toro had a return on equity of 29.60% and a net margin of 7.28%.The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. Toro has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.600 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Toro will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Toro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 30th. Toro’s payout ratio is 46.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TTC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Toro from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Toro from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Toro from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Toro from $97.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Toro from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Toro presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James Calvin O’rourke sold 4,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total value of $492,129.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $268,777.60. The trade was a 64.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Richard M. Olson sold 119,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.15, for a total value of $11,957,910.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 38,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,327.90. This trade represents a 75.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TTC. Davis Capital Management purchased a new position in Toro during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Toro during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Toro during the third quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Toro during the third quarter valued at approximately $119,000. Finally, Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Toro in the 4th quarter worth approximately $215,000. 87.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Toro

The Toro Company (NYSE: TTC) specializes in the design, manufacture and marketing of a broad range of outdoor environment equipment for residential, commercial and professional markets. Its product portfolio includes lawn mowers, utility vehicles, snow throwers, irrigation systems and landscape maintenance equipment. Toro’s offerings span walk-behind and ride-on mowers, zero-turn radius mowers, snow blowers, sprinklers, drip irrigation products, spreaders and specialty turf maintenance machines tailored to golf courses, sports fields and municipal parks.

Founded in 1914 and headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota, Toro has built a century-long legacy of innovation in the grounds-care industry.