Nuance Investments LLC Buys 50,103 Shares of The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC)

Nuance Investments LLC grew its stake in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) by 14.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 386,160 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,103 shares during the period. Toro accounts for about 1.2% of Nuance Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Nuance Investments LLC owned approximately 0.38% of Toro worth $30,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Toro by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,959,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,639,000 after purchasing an additional 29,105 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Toro by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,187,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,123,000 after acquiring an additional 60,068 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in shares of Toro by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,121,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,701,000 after acquiring an additional 260,746 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Toro by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,043,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,611,000 after acquiring an additional 36,750 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Toro by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 799,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,031,000 after acquiring an additional 24,596 shares during the last quarter. 87.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Toro Stock Performance

NYSE TTC opened at $74.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market cap of $7.44 billion, a PE ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 0.70. The Toro Company has a fifty-two week low of $71.23 and a fifty-two week high of $100.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $79.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.14.

Toro declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 10th that permits the company to repurchase 4,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Toro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Toro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on TTC shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Toro from $88.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Northland Capmk raised Toro from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Northland Securities raised 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. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Toro from $86.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Toro from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Toro has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.75.

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.