Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Decreases Stock Holdings in TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU)

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lowered its position in shares of TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 291,200 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock after selling 14,289 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in TELUS were worth $4,875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TU. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of TELUS during the fourth quarter valued at about $188,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of TELUS by 57.3% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 17,049 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 6,211 shares in the last quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in shares of TELUS in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas boosted its position in shares of TELUS by 8.1% during the first quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 27,333 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its stake in TELUS by 52.6% in the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 75,507 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 26,023 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 49.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of TELUS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. StockNews.com raised TELUS from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, TELUS currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.00.

TELUS Price Performance

TU opened at $15.82 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.74. TELUS Co. has a 52-week low of $14.63 and a 52-week high of $19.14.

TELUS (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.70 billion. TELUS had a net margin of 3.87% and a return on equity of 8.50%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.14 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that TELUS Co. will post 0.73 EPS for the current year.

TELUS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a dividend of $0.284 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.18%. This is a positive change from TELUS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. TELUS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 294.87%.

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.