Allstate Corp Makes New Investment in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC)

Allstate Corp purchased a new position in shares of The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Toro by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 55,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,824,000 after buying an additional 20,783 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in Toro by 18.3% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 4,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Toro by 4.3% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 37,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Toro by 11.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 618,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,685,000 after purchasing an additional 64,660 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Toro by 127.2% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 24,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,134,000 after buying an additional 13,776 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TTC has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Toro from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Toro from $86.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Northland Securities upgraded 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 cut their target price on Toro from $88.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Toro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

Toro Stock Up 1.8 %

TTC opened at $73.91 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $78.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $7.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.43 and a beta of 0.72. The Toro Company has a 12 month low of $71.23 and a 12 month high of $100.93.

Toro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Toro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.87%.

Toro declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase 4,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.