Plaintiffs included the City of Hialeah (Florida) Employees' Retirement System and the Laborers Pension Trust Fund for Northern California. The investors claimed that Toll Brothers overstated demand for its homes and misled investors on its future earnings potential when it claImed that "expensive homes for a niche market of high-end buyers" would help weather negative interest rate and economic developments. The last few years, as we know in hindsight, have been especially rough on the high end of the market.
We recently visited Toll Brothers’ large golf community Dominion Valley in Haymarket, VA, and reviewed it here. The mid-market community (homes generally in the mid-six figures) appeared well organized with a considerable amount of home construction in process. Toll Brothers seems to be in good shape, having posted its first quarterly profit since 2007 just two months ago. And after yesterday’s announcement of the $25 million agreement, a mere blip for a company as large as Toll Brothers, shares of the Philadelphia-based company increased 3.75%, to $18.52 on the NYSE.
Dominion Valley is one of 22 country clubs operated by Toll Brothers' golf division. Its golf course, like most of Toll's portfolio, was designed by Arnold Palmer's group.