The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) Shares Bought by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) by 54.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 212,972 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 75,147 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.21% of Toro worth $17,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Toro by 27.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 69,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,035,000 after buying an additional 14,826 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Toro by 49.1% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 36,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,203,000 after acquiring an additional 12,157 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Toro by 6.8% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 7,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in Toro by 57.7% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 24,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,131,000 after purchasing an additional 8,986 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Toro by 59.7% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 55,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,824,000 after purchasing an additional 20,783 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.95% of the company’s stock.

Toro Price Performance

Toro stock opened at $74.86 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.04. The Toro Company has a 52 week low of $71.23 and a 52 week high of $100.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.47 billion, a PE ratio of 18.67 and a beta of 0.70.

Toro declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to buyback 4,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Toro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Toro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on TTC shares. DA Davidson reduced their price target on Toro from $86.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Northland Securities raised Toro from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Toro from $88.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Toro from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Toro from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.