Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised Toll Brothers from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Toll Brothers in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays lowered their target price 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. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Toll Brothers from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Toll Brothers from $185.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.57.

Toll Brothers Stock Down 3.4 %

Toll Brothers stock opened at $102.98 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.24 billion, a PE ratio of 7.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 4.65 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $123.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.09. Toll Brothers has a 1-year low of $102.49 and a 1-year high of $169.52.

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

Toll Brothers Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. This is a boost from Toll Brothers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Toll Brothers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Toll Brothers news, Director Paul E. Shapiro sold 3,837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.14, for a total transaction of $514,695.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 119,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,088,349.18. This trade represents a 3.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Martin P. Connor sold 11,140 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,618 shares in the company, valued at $2,599,311.26. This trade represents a 35.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,622 shares of company stock valued at $1,993,880. 1.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Toll Brothers during the fourth quarter worth $149,924,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Toll Brothers by 24,475.1% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,114,728 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $140,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110,192 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Toll Brothers by 97.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,118,459 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $327,281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,758 shares during the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Toll Brothers in the 4th quarter valued at about $106,428,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in shares of Toll Brothers during the 3rd quarter worth about $111,562,000. 91.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.