KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Invests $3.93 Million in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 48,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,933,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Toro in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Toro by 195.7% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Toro by 54.6% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 807 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC boosted its position in 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 during the period. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Toro by 87.2% in the fourth 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 currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on TTC shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Toro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Toro from $86.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Northland Capmk upgraded Toro from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Raymond James lowered their target price on Toro from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Northland Securities raised Toro from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

Toro Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TTC opened at $74.95 on Thursday. The Toro Company has a 12-month low of $71.23 and a 12-month high of $100.93. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $79.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.09. The firm has a market cap of $7.48 billion, a PE ratio of 18.69 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Toro Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Toro’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.87%.

Toro declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase 4,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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.