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

The Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD) (TSE:TD) was the recipient of a large 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 shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,200,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on TD shares. Bank of America raised shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Desjardins lowered 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 assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.50.

Toronto-Dominion Bank Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TD traded down $0.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $60.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,689,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,563,599. The company has a market cap of $105.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.83. Toronto-Dominion Bank has a 12-month low of $51.25 and a 12-month high of $64.91. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

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 paid a $0.7278 dividend. This represents a $2.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Toronto-Dominion Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toronto-Dominion Bank

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Toronto-Dominion Bank by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 5,446 shares of the bank’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank increased its position in Toronto-Dominion Bank by 2.6% during the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 7,530 shares of the bank’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Toronto-Dominion Bank by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 700 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management raised its stake in Toronto-Dominion Bank by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 44,685 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,379,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Toronto-Dominion Bank by 57.5% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. 52.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.