Short Interest in The Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD) Increases By 52.3%

The Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD) (TSE:TD) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,850,000 shares, a growth of 52.3% from the February 28th total of 11,720,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,200,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised Toronto-Dominion Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank from $82.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Desjardins lowered shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.50.

Toronto-Dominion Bank Stock Performance

NYSE TD traded down $0.34 on Monday, hitting $59.96. 1,572,768 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,559,653. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The business’s fifty day moving average is $58.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.61. Toronto-Dominion Bank has a 12 month low of $51.25 and a 12 month high of $64.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.83.

Toronto-Dominion Bank Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.7278 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.86%. Toronto-Dominion Bank’s payout ratio is 85.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toronto-Dominion Bank

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Toronto-Dominion Bank during the 4th quarter worth about $992,204,000. FIL Ltd boosted its position in shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 38,989,749 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,075,819,000 after acquiring an additional 5,756,584 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Toronto-Dominion Bank by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,526,821 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $569,878,000 after acquiring an additional 2,564,648 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its holdings in Toronto-Dominion Bank by 175.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 2,467,300 shares of the bank’s stock worth $156,202,000 after acquiring an additional 1,571,700 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Toronto-Dominion Bank by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 27,990,674 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,488,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,491,472 shares in the last quarter. 52.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Toronto-Dominion Bank

The Toronto-Dominion Bank, together with its subsidiaries, provides various financial products and services in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking, U.S. Retail, Wealth Management and Insurance, and Wholesale Banking.