Investors Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Toro (NYSE:TTC)

Toro Company (The) (NYSE:TTC) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 1,176 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,709% compared to the typical daily volume of 65 put options.

Toro Stock Performance

NYSE:TTC opened at $95.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.23 billion, a PE ratio of 28.52 and a beta of 0.80. Toro has a 1 year low of $67.04 and a 1 year high of $105.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.93.

Toro (NYSE:TTC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1 billion. Toro had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 29.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. Toro has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.600 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Toro will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

Toro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 30th were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 30th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Toro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Richard M. Olson sold 119,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.15, for a total transaction of $11,957,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 38,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,327.90. This trade represents a 75.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James Calvin O’rourke sold 4,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total value of $492,129.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,704 shares in the company, valued at $268,777.60. This trade represents a 64.68% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of TTC. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Toro in the first quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in Toro by 277.8% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 971 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in Toro during the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Toro by 70.8% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 2,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Toro by 416.7% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 68,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,396,000 after purchasing an additional 55,206 shares during the period. 87.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Toro from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Toro from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 15th. Zacks Research raised shares of Toro from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Toro from $97.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut Toro from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.40.

Toro Company Profile

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.