Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

StockNews.com cut shares of Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on TOL. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Toll Brothers from $143.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Toll Brothers from $115.00 to $101.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Toll Brothers from $142.00 to $139.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Toll Brothers from $164.00 to $132.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Toll Brothers from $155.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.57.

Toll Brothers Price Performance

Shares of TOL opened at $105.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.58 billion, a PE ratio of 7.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 4.65. Toll Brothers has a fifty-two week low of $102.49 and a fifty-two week high of $169.52. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $137.53.

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. Toll Brothers had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 14.03%. Analysts anticipate that Toll Brothers will post 13.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Toll Brothers Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from Toll Brothers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Toll Brothers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.88%.

Insider Transactions at Toll Brothers

In related news, Director Christine Garvey sold 420 shares of Toll Brothers stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.58, for a total transaction of $46,443.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $1,458,107.88. This trade represents a 3.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Martin P. Connor sold 11,140 shares of Toll Brothers stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.07, for a total transaction of $1,404,419.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,599,311.26. The trade was a 35.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,785 shares of company stock worth $1,479,185. 1.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toll Brothers

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Toll Brothers in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Toll Brothers in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in Toll Brothers during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Toll Brothers by 57.9% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 180 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Toll Brothers during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 91.76% of the company’s stock.

About Toll Brothers

Toll Brothers, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, builds, markets, sells, and arranges finance for a range of detached and attached homes in luxury residential communities in the United States. It designs, builds, markets, and sells condominiums through Toll Brothers City Living. The company also develops a range of single-story living and first-floor primary bedroom suite home designs, as well as communities with recreational amenities, such as golf courses, marinas, pool complexes, country clubs, and fitness and recreation centers; and develops, operates, and rents apartments.