TELUS (NYSE:TU) Hits New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $13.74 and last traded at $13.87, with a volume of 4863981 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $14.05.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on TU shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of TELUS from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of TELUS from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of TELUS in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of TELUS from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.00.

TELUS Trading Up 0.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $20.79 billion, a PE ratio of 29.49, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $15.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.89.

TELUS (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.11. TELUS had a net margin of 4.56% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that TELUS Co. will post 0.73 EPS for the current year.

TELUS Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.297 per share. This represents a $1.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This is a boost from TELUS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. TELUS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 253.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TELUS

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in TELUS by 60.4% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,533 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 954 shares during the period. Gold Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of TELUS by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 93,275 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $1,412,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares during the period. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc boosted its position in shares of TELUS by 14.1% in the second quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 378,086 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $5,721,000 after acquiring an additional 46,773 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in TELUS by 13.4% in the second quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 85,648 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 10,141 shares during the period. Finally, VAUGHAN & Co SECURITIES INC. increased its position in TELUS by 10.3% during the second quarter. VAUGHAN & Co SECURITIES INC. now owns 42,945 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $650,000 after purchasing an additional 4,001 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.40% of the company’s stock.

TELUS Company Profile

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.