TELUS (NYSE:TU) Cut to Hold at TD Securities

TD Securities cut shares of TELUS (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on TU. Bank of America raised TELUS from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $14.50 to $16.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. National Bank Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of TELUS in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TELUS in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup upgraded shares of TELUS to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of TELUS from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, TELUS presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.63.

TELUS Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:TU opened at $12.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.81. TELUS has a one year low of $12.54 and a one year high of $16.74. The company has a market cap of $19.92 billion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $13.54 and a 200-day moving average of $13.92.

TELUS (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 billion. TELUS had a net margin of 5.42% and a return on equity of 8.42%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that TELUS will post 0.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TELUS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.4184 per share. This represents a $1.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 11th. TELUS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 236.54%.

Institutional Trading of TELUS

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in TELUS in the second quarter worth $27,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of TELUS by 320.0% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 2,247 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,712 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of TELUS during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA boosted its holdings in shares of TELUS by 129.0% in the 4th quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA now owns 2,473 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of TELUS by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,926 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. 49.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About TELUS

TELUS Corporation (NYSE: TU) is a Canadian telecommunications and technology company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. It delivers a broad portfolio of consumer and business communications services across Canada, including mobile wireless, fixed-line voice, broadband internet, and television. TELUS also provides a range of enterprise services such as cloud and IT solutions, managed network services, cybersecurity and Internet of Things (IoT) offerings for business customers.

Beyond core connectivity, TELUS has expanded into health and digital services.