Toro (NYSE:TTC) Hits New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

Shares of The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) hit a new 52-week low on Thursday . The company traded as low as $67.94 and last traded at $68.52, with a volume of 264749 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $73.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on TTC shares. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Toro from $86.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Toro from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of 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 for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Northland Capmk upgraded Toro from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Toro has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.75.

Toro Trading Down 8.3 %

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 company has a market cap of $6.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.90 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50-day moving average is $78.34 and its 200 day moving average is $81.76.

Toro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 2.25%. Toro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.87%.

Toro declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to buyback 4,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toro

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Toro by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 24,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,941,000 after buying an additional 5,570 shares in the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Toro during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $138,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Toro in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,919,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Toro by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Toro in the fourth quarter valued at about $209,000. 87.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.