Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 1,890 Shares of The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its stake in shares of The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) by 4.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 37,923 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,890 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Toro were worth $3,289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of TTC. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Toro by 1.6% during the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 5,519,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,120,000 after purchasing an additional 88,536 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Toro by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,766,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,673,000 after buying an additional 65,800 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Toro by 13.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 901,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,279,000 after acquiring an additional 110,330 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Toro by 11.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 618,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,685,000 after acquiring an additional 64,660 shares during the period. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Toro by 41.0% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 600,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,165,000 after acquiring an additional 174,545 shares in the last quarter. 87.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Toro Stock Performance

Shares of TTC stock opened at $86.38 on Tuesday. The Toro Company has a one year low of $77.15 and a one year high of $102.00. The company has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.67 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $84.18 and a 200-day moving average of $88.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Toro Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. This is a boost from Toro’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Toro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.90%.

Toro announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 10th that allows the company to buyback 4,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on TTC shares. StockNews.com upgraded Toro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Toro from $103.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Toro in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Toro from $102.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.33.

Toro Company 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.