APG Asset Management N.V. Raises Stock Holdings in TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU)

APG Asset Management N.V. raised its stake in TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU - Free Report) TSE: T by 92.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 789,541 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock after purchasing an additional 378,668 shares during the quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. owned 0.05% of TELUS worth $10,333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in TELUS by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 30,219,141 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $409,662,000 after purchasing an additional 6,659,564 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of TELUS in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $190,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in TELUS by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,993,662 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $149,074,000 after buying an additional 326,531 shares in the last quarter. Mirabaud Asset Management Ltd increased its position in TELUS by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Mirabaud Asset Management Ltd now owns 60,344 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $812,000 after purchasing an additional 3,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC lifted its holdings in TELUS by 1,461.5% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 294,868 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $3,990,000 after buying an additional 275,984 shares during the period. 49.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded TELUS from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America downgraded shares of TELUS from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Cormark lowered shares of TELUS from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TELUS currently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

TELUS Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TU traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $14.80. 558,920 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,843,168. The firm has a market cap of $22.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.20, a PEG ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.70. TELUS Co. has a twelve month low of $13.24 and a twelve month high of $17.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $14.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.97.

TELUS (NYSE:TU - Get Free Report) TSE: T last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.64 billion. TELUS had a net margin of 4.85% and a return on equity of 9.07%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that TELUS Co. will post 0.71 EPS for the current year.

TELUS Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.2829 per share. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.64%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. TELUS's payout ratio is 226.53%.

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.