Toronto Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Toronto Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD) (TSE:TD) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

TD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Toronto Dominion Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Toronto Dominion Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce downgraded shares of Toronto Dominion Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Toronto Dominion Bank to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Toronto Dominion Bank in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

Toronto Dominion Bank Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:TD opened at $96.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $162.09 billion, a PE ratio of 11.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Toronto Dominion Bank has a 12-month low of $54.87 and a 12-month high of $99.04.

Toronto Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD) (TSE:TD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The bank reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $11.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.10 billion. Toronto Dominion Bank had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The company’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.72 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Toronto Dominion Bank will post 5.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Toronto Dominion Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. This is a positive change from Toronto Dominion Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 9th. Toronto Dominion Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.37%.

Institutional Trading of Toronto Dominion Bank

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Toronto Dominion Bank by 18.5% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 12,470,618 shares of the bank’s stock worth $917,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,946,172 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Toronto Dominion Bank by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 13,815,706 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,010,852,000 after buying an additional 115,203 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Toronto Dominion Bank during the 2nd quarter worth about $267,475,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Toronto Dominion Bank by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,658,144 shares of the bank’s stock worth $121,791,000 after acquiring an additional 51,698 shares during the period. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its holdings in shares of Toronto Dominion Bank by 304.0% in the second quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 2,446,307 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $180,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,840,747 shares in the last quarter. 52.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Toronto Dominion Bank

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Formed through the 1955 merger of the Bank of Toronto (founded 1855) and the Dominion Bank (founded 1869), TD is one of Canada’s largest banks and offers a broad range of financial products and services to individual, small business, commercial and institutional clients.

TD’s core businesses include Canadian and U.S. personal and commercial banking, wealth management, wholesale banking and insurance.