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

Toro Company (The) (NYSE:TTC) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 1,176 put options on the company. This is an increase of 1,709% compared to the typical volume of 65 put options.

Toro Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TTC opened at $78.88 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.61. Toro has a 52 week low of $62.34 and a 52 week high of $87.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.88 and a beta of 0.84.

Toro (NYSE:TTC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 17th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. Toro had a net margin of 7.01% and a return on equity of 28.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Toro has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.350-4.50 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Toro will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Toro Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from Toro’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Toro’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.21%.

Institutional Trading of Toro

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TTC. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Toro by 1,184.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,963,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,827,000 after acquiring an additional 1,810,429 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Toro by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 500,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,423,000 after purchasing an additional 36,051 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Toro by 37.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 456,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,237,000 after purchasing an additional 124,373 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Toro by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 247,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,867,000 after purchasing an additional 1,442 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Toro by 324.2% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 131,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,566,000 after purchasing an additional 100,487 shares during the last quarter. 87.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on TTC shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Toro from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird set a $84.00 target price on Toro in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Toro in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Toro from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Northland Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Toro from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.20.

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.