JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Stake in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its stake in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,111,145 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,364 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 1.10% of Toro worth $89,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TTC. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Toro in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Toro by 195.7% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Toro by 54.6% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 807 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Toro by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Toro by 87.2% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. 87.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Toro Stock Down 8.3 %

TTC stock opened at $67.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88 and a beta of 0.72. The Toro Company has a 12 month low of $67.68 and a 12 month high of $100.93. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Toro declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to buyback 4,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Toro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Toro’s payout ratio is 38.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on TTC shares. Northland Capmk upgraded Toro from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Northland Securities raised shares of Toro from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Toro from $88.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Toro from $86.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Toro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong 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 $89.75.

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.