Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $2.64 Million Stock Position in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) by 14.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,419 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Toro were worth $2,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Toro by 112.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in shares of Toro by 850.0% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 765 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Toro by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 908 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in Toro by 15.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Toro during the second quarter valued at approximately $94,000. 87.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TTC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Toro in a research note on Friday, September 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Toro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Toro from $102.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their target price on Toro from $103.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Toro currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.33.

Toro Stock Performance

NYSE:TTC opened at $88.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $84.18 and its 200-day moving average is $87.96. The Toro Company has a 52-week low of $77.15 and a 52-week high of $102.00. The company has a market cap of $9.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.18 and a beta of 0.70.

Toro Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This is a boost from Toro’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. Toro’s dividend payout ratio is 37.80%.

Toro announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 10th that permits the company to buyback 4,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.