Eagle Asset Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 14,869 The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 14,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,261,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of TTC. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Toro by 112.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 765 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Toro by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 908 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Toro by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Toro in the second quarter valued at $94,000. 87.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Toro Stock Up 2.5 %

TTC opened at $87.28 on Tuesday. The Toro Company has a 12 month low of $77.15 and a 12 month high of $102.00. The stock has a market cap of $8.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.91 and a beta of 0.69. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $83.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

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

Toro Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Toro from $103.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 9th. 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. StockNews.com upgraded Toro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, 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 note on Friday, September 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.33.

Toro 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.