Vest Financial LLC Boosts Stake in TELUS Corporation $TU

Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TELUS Corporation (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T) by 62.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 181,389 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 70,006 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in TELUS were worth $2,861,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 11,900 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of TELUS by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 12,716 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $204,000 after buying an additional 1,196 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners acquired a new stake in shares of TELUS during the second quarter worth approximately $161,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in shares of TELUS by 272.1% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 396,131 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $6,361,000 after buying an additional 289,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of TELUS by 3.5% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 39,397 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $633,000 after buying an additional 1,331 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.40% of the company’s stock.

TELUS Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE TU opened at $13.64 on Friday. TELUS Corporation has a 12-month low of $12.54 and a 12-month high of $16.74. The company has a market cap of $21.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.91.

TELUS (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.02). TELUS had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 5.71%.The company had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. TELUS’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that TELUS Corporation will post 0.71 EPS for the current year.

TELUS Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 11th were given a dividend of $0.4184 per share. This is an increase from TELUS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 11th. TELUS’s payout ratio is currently 218.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. National Bankshares reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of TELUS in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of TELUS from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Citigroup upgraded TELUS to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Barclays lowered their price objective on TELUS from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of TELUS in a report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, TELUS presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.17.

TELUS 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.