TELUS (NYSE:TU) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of TELUS (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Tuesday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Scotiabank reaffirmed a sector perform rating and issued a $26.00 price target (down from $28.00) on shares of TELUS in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of TELUS from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of TELUS from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $27.72.

TELUS Price Performance

Shares of TU opened at $16.01 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $17.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.36. The company has a market capitalization of $23.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.67. TELUS has a fifty-two week low of $15.47 and a fifty-two week high of $21.34.

TELUS (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.01. TELUS had a return on equity of 7.81% and a net margin of 4.18%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.17 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that TELUS will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

TELUS Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th will be issued a $0.2793 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 8th. This is an increase from TELUS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. TELUS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 258.14%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TELUS

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of TELUS by 80.8% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,654 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TELUS during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TELUS during the 4th quarter worth $49,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of TELUS by 104.3% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,891 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of TELUS by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 4,669 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.40% of the company’s stock.

About TELUS

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.