The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) Short Interest Down 24.1% in March

The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,530,000 shares, a decline of 24.1% from the February 28th total of 4,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,110,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days. Approximately 3.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Toro Trading Down 2.1 %

Toro stock opened at $73.29 on Monday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $79.00 and a 200-day moving average of $81.97. The company has a market cap of $7.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.28 and a beta of 0.70. Toro has a one year low of $71.23 and a one year high of $100.93.

Toro announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Toro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Toro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toro

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Toro by 127.2% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Toro in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Toro by 30.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Toro by 195.7% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 547 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Toro by 54.6% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 807 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. 87.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TTC has been the subject of several research reports. Northland Capmk raised shares of Toro from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Raymond James lowered their target price on Toro from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Toro from $88.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Toro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Northland Securities upgraded Toro from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.