The Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

The Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD) (TSE:TD) saw a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 11,720,000 shares, a growth of 26.7% from the February 13th total of 9,250,000 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,380,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays cut shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Toronto-Dominion Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com cut Toronto-Dominion Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised Toronto-Dominion Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Desjardins downgraded shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Toronto-Dominion Bank has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.50.

Toronto-Dominion Bank Price Performance

NYSE:TD traded up $0.83 on Monday, hitting $59.76. The company had a trading volume of 1,084,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,428,678. Toronto-Dominion Bank has a 52 week low of $51.25 and a 52 week high of $64.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.22, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $58.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.61.

Toronto-Dominion Bank Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.7278 per share. This represents a $2.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Toronto-Dominion Bank’s payout ratio is 85.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank during the fourth quarter worth $992,204,000. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in Toronto-Dominion Bank by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 38,989,749 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,075,819,000 after buying an additional 5,756,584 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Toronto-Dominion Bank by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 13,509,261 shares of the bank’s stock worth $854,815,000 after buying an additional 2,689,532 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,526,821 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $569,878,000 after buying an additional 2,564,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank by 61.1% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 6,011,579 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $380,118,000 after buying an additional 2,279,864 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.37% of the company’s stock.

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.