TELUS (NYSE:TU) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Sell”

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of TELUS (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on TU. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of TELUS in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of TELUS in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup upgraded TELUS to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of TELUS from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $19.00 target price (down from $22.00) on shares of TELUS in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.17.

TELUS Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE TU opened at $13.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.13, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.86. TELUS has a one year low of $12.54 and a one year high of $16.74. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $13.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.54.

TELUS (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $3.85 billion. TELUS had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 5.42%.During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that TELUS will post 0.71 EPS for the current year.

TELUS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.4184 per share. This represents a $1.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. TELUS’s dividend payout ratio is 230.77%.

Institutional Trading of TELUS

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TU. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in TELUS by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 779,692 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $11,181,000 after acquiring an additional 11,900 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of TELUS by 169.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,658 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 2,301 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in TELUS by 7.9% in the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 62,317 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $999,000 after purchasing an additional 4,588 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in TELUS by 15.8% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 549,012 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $8,815,000 after buying an additional 74,958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in TELUS by 1,981,964.7% during the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,428,972 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $54,969,000 after buying an additional 3,428,799 shares in the last quarter. 49.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TELUS Company Profile

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.