KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys Shares of 48,900 The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 48,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,933,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Toro by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 15,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,225,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Toro by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 11,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $923,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Financial Advisors boosted its stake in Toro by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Northwest Financial Advisors now owns 6,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $556,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Toro by 7.1% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in Toro by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 3,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.95% of the company’s stock.

Toro Stock Performance

NYSE TTC opened at $74.95 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The Toro Company has a twelve month low of $71.23 and a twelve month high of $100.93. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.09.

Toro announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 10th that permits the company to buyback 4,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Toro Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Toro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Toro from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Toro from $86.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Toro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Toro from $88.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Northland Securities upgraded Toro from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.75.

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.