Toast (NYSE:TOST) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Loop Capital

Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Toast (NYSE:TOST) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a hold rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Toast in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $39.00 price target on shares of Toast in a research note on Monday, February 16th. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Toast from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, December 1st. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Toast from $51.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $36.00 price objective on Toast in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.88.

Toast Trading Up 1.6%

TOST stock opened at $26.49 on Tuesday. Toast has a 1-year low of $24.35 and a 1-year high of $49.66. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.88 billion, a PE ratio of 49.05 and a beta of 1.95.

Toast (NYSE:TOST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.08). Toast had a net margin of 5.56% and a return on equity of 18.14%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.05 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Toast will post 0.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Toast announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Aman Narang sold 8,591 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.38, for a total transaction of $295,358.58. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 338,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,649,663. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Stephen Fredette sold 4,866 shares of Toast stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.38, for a total transaction of $167,293.08. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 910,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,306,634.28. This trade represents a 0.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 100,856 shares of company stock valued at $3,540,449 in the last three months. Insiders own 12.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toast

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bayban bought a new position in Toast during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Toast during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. SHP Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Toast during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Toast during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Toast in the third quarter worth $30,000. 82.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Toast Company Profile

Toast, Inc (NYSE: TOST) is a technology company that builds a cloud-based platform for restaurants and other foodservice businesses. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Toast offers integrated point-of-sale (POS) systems and a suite of software and hardware designed to streamline front-of-house and back-of-house operations. The company went public in 2021 and has positioned itself as a vertically integrated provider for the restaurant industry.

Toast’s product portfolio includes touchscreen POS terminals and handheld order-and-pay devices, kitchen display systems, and peripherals tailored for high-volume foodservice environments.