Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Acquires Shares of 55,193 The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 55,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,421,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.05% of Toro at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Toro by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 8,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $726,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Toro by 40.9% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 885 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Toro by 153.4% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 28,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,483,000 after purchasing an additional 17,330 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Toro by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 30,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,638,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Toro by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,959,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,639,000 after purchasing an additional 29,105 shares during the last quarter. 87.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Toro Stock Performance

NYSE TTC opened at $63.36 on Wednesday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $76.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.05. The Toro Company has a 52-week low of $62.34 and a 52-week high of $100.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.80 and a beta of 0.72.

Toro announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 10th that permits the company to repurchase 4,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Toro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Toro’s payout ratio is 38.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. 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 note on Monday, February 24th. DA Davidson dropped 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. Northland Capmk upgraded Toro from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Toro from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Toro from $88.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Three equities 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Toro presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.75.

About Toro

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.