Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,375 shares of the company’s stock after selling 953 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Toro were worth $4,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TTC. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in Toro by 2.6% in the second quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC lifted its stake in Toro by 2.8% in the third quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 3,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Toro by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 17,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,653,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Toro by 2.3% in the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 5,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp lifted its stake in Toro by 2.7% in the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 5,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Toro

In other news, Director Gary Lee Ellis sold 5,192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.75, for a total transaction of $460,790.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,933,276.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Edric C. Funk sold 615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.57, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gary Lee Ellis sold 5,192 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 33,051 shares in the company, valued at $2,933,276.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.62% of the company’s stock.

Toro Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TTC opened at $87.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.77 and a beta of 0.72. The Toro Company has a 52 week low of $78.35 and a 52 week high of $108.50. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $91.32 and a 200 day moving average of $88.69.

Toro (NYSE:TTC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Toro Company will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Toro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 28th. Toro’s payout ratio is presently 52.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on TTC shares. TheStreet upgraded Toro from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Toro from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Toro from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Toro from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.60.

Toro Company 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.