International Assets Investment Management LLC Increases Holdings in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC)

International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) by 9,500.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,744 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,705 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Toro were worth $359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in Toro by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 316,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,336,000 after buying an additional 2,637 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Toro by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 28,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,740,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new stake in Toro during the fourth quarter valued at $290,000. Trust Point Inc. bought a new stake in Toro during the fourth quarter valued at $371,000. Finally, LVZ Inc. bought a new stake in Toro during the fourth quarter valued at $230,000. 87.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Toro Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of TTC stock opened at $87.52 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $89.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.94. The Toro Company has a 12-month low of $78.35 and a 12-month high of $108.50. The firm has a market cap of $9.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.94 and a beta of 0.72.

Toro (NYSE:TTC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. Toro had a return on equity of 26.66% and a net margin of 6.53%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that The Toro Company will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Toro Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. Toro’s dividend payout ratio is 52.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on TTC. StockNews.com lowered Toro from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. TheStreet raised Toro from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on Toro from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Toro news, Director Gary Lee Ellis sold 5,192 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.75, for a total transaction of $460,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 33,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,933,276.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Edric C. Funk sold 615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.57, for a total value of $55,085.55. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,958.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gary Lee Ellis sold 5,192 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.75, for a total value of $460,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 33,051 shares in the company, valued at $2,933,276.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.