TELUS Co. (TSE:T) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of TELUS Co. (TSE:T) (NYSE:TU) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$21.38.

T has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of TELUS from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from C$22.00 to C$19.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. TD Securities decreased their price objective on shares of TELUS from C$25.00 to C$21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Desjardins set a C$23.00 target price on shares of TELUS and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. ATB Cormark Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of TELUS from C$20.00 to C$19.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on TELUS from C$25.00 to C$20.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th.

TELUS Stock Performance

TELUS stock opened at C$18.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of C$29.03 billion, a PE ratio of 25.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.79. TELUS has a one year low of C$17.26 and a one year high of C$23.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is C$18.46 and its 200 day moving average price is C$20.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 183.41, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.69.

TELUS (TSE:T) (NYSE:TU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported C$0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. TELUS had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 5.80%. The company had revenue of C$5.23 billion for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that TELUS will post 1.2267985 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at TELUS

In other news, Director Thomas Earl Flynn purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$17.45 per share, for a total transaction of C$52,350.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 14,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$251,088.05. The trade was a 26.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director David Lawrence Mowat purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$17.37 per share, for a total transaction of C$52,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 14,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$251,621.82. This represents a 26.12% increase in their position. Insiders have purchased a total of 258,245 shares of company stock worth $4,486,022 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

TELUS Company Profile

Telus is one of the Big Three wireless service providers in Canada, with its 9 million mobile phone subscribers nationwide constituting about 30% of the total market. It is the incumbent local exchange carrier in the western Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, where it provides internet, television, and landline phone services. It also has a small wireline presence in eastern Quebec. In recent years Telus has moved to bring fiber to the home over most of its wireline footprint as it upgrades its legacy copper network, leaving it able to compete on more equal footing with cable providers.