TELUS (NYSE:TU) Trading Up 3.8% – Here’s Why

by · The Markets Daily

TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU – Get Free Report) (TSE:T) shot up 3.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $14.49 and last traded at $14.53. Approximately 2,655,730 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 3% from the average daily volume of 2,736,949 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.99.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Cormark cut shares of TELUS from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on TELUS in a report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Bank of America lowered TELUS from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. StockNews.com upgraded TELUS from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, National Bank Financial cut shares of TELUS from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, TELUS currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on TELUS

TELUS Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.15. The stock has a market cap of $22.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.70, a P/E/G ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.72.

TELUS (NYSE:TU – Get Free Report) (TSE:T) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.64 billion. TELUS had a net margin of 4.85% and a return on equity of 9.07%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that TELUS Co. will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TELUS Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.2829 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.77%. TELUS’s dividend payout ratio is 226.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TELUS

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TU. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of TELUS by 768.7% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 16,957 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 15,005 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of TELUS by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 390,142 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $5,287,000 after acquiring an additional 133,636 shares in the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new position in TELUS during the 4th quarter worth about $1,742,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of TELUS by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 49,232,693 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $667,840,000 after purchasing an additional 9,068,181 shares during the period. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of TELUS by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 198,708 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $2,692,000 after purchasing an additional 41,119 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.40% of the company’s stock.

About TELUS

(Get Free Report)

TELUS Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of telecommunications and information technology products and services in Canada. It operates through Technology Solutions and Digitally-Led Customer Experiences segments. The Technology Solutions segment offers a range of telecommunications products and services; network services; healthcare services; mobile technologies equipment; data services, such as internet protocol; television; hosting, managed information technology, and cloud-based services; software, data management, and data analytics-driven smart food-chain and consumer goods technologies; home and business security; healthcare software and technology solutions; and voice and other telecommunications services, as well as mobile and fixed voice and data telecommunications services and products.

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