Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 1,890 Shares of The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its position in shares of The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) by 4.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,923 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,890 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Toro were worth $3,289,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in TTC. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake 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. lifted its position 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 worth $74,000 after buying an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Toro by 22.4% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in Toro by 15.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Toro during the second quarter worth about $94,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.95% of the company’s stock.

Toro Price Performance

TTC stock opened at $86.38 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.67 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $84.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.02. 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 Toro Company has a 52-week low of $77.15 and a 52-week high of $102.00.

Toro announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase 4,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Toro Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a positive change from Toro’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd. Toro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target 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. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Toro from $103.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Toro from $102.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.