The Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

The Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD) (TSE:TD) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 22,560,000 shares, an increase of 77.8% from the December 15th total of 12,690,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,870,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.9 days. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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. Desjardins downgraded shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered Toronto-Dominion Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, December 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Toronto-Dominion Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.50.

Toronto-Dominion Bank Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of TD traded up $2.17 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $57.49. The stock had a trading volume of 7,300,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,605,112. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.29. Toronto-Dominion Bank has a 12-month low of $51.25 and a 12-month high of $64.91. 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 firm has a market cap of $100.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.83.

Toronto-Dominion Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.7482 per share. This is an increase from Toronto-Dominion Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $2.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Toronto-Dominion Bank’s payout ratio is currently 87.03%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toronto-Dominion Bank

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank by 164.9% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 400 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Toronto-Dominion Bank by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 700 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Toronto-Dominion Bank during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Toronto-Dominion Bank in the third quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank during the third quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.