The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) Declares $0.34 Quarterly Dividend

The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, September 19th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 4th will be given a dividend of 0.34 per share on Wednesday, October 18th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%.

Toro has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 19 years. Toro has a payout ratio of 29.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Toro to earn $4.64 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.3%.

Toro Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE TTC traded down $1.23 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $80.40. The company had a trading volume of 567,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 565,748. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.80 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Toro has a 1-year low of $80.23 and a 1-year high of $117.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $98.71 and its 200-day moving average is $102.19.

Toro (NYSE:TTC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 7th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.28). Toro had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 33.37%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Toro will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on TTC shares. DA Davidson started coverage on Toro in a report on Wednesday, June 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $117.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Toro from $110.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 8th. TheStreet downgraded Toro from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, September 7th. Raymond James cut their price target on Toro from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Toro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $108.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Toro news, VP Kevin N. Carpenter sold 1,610 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $131,907.30. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,846.17. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Daryn A. Walters purchased 1,654 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $97.41 per share, for a total transaction of $161,116.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $358,858.44. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Kevin N. Carpenter sold 1,610 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $131,907.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,846.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TTC. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Toro by 1.2% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 49,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,262,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. grew its position in Toro by 37.2% in the first quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 15,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after acquiring an additional 4,200 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its position in Toro by 7.6% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 60,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,309,000 after acquiring an additional 4,269 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Toro by 2.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 883,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,558,000 after acquiring an additional 23,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Toro by 9.2% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 37,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,180,000 after acquiring an additional 3,144 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.69% of the company’s stock.

Toro Company Profile

The Toro Company provides innovative solutions for the outdoor environment worldwide. It operates through two segments Professional and Residential. The company's 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, including snowplows; as well as stand-on snow and ice removal equipment, such as the related 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.