Analysts Set TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU) Price Target at $26.00

TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU - Get Free Report) TSE: T has been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $26.00.

TU has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of TELUS from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Scotiabank raised TELUS from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on TELUS in a report on Monday, December 16th. They set an "equal weight" rating for the company. Finally, National Bank Financial cut shares of TELUS from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th.

TELUS Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:TU traded up $0.06 on Tuesday, hitting $13.98. The company had a trading volume of 3,380,361 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,449,265. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $14.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. TELUS has a 1 year low of $13.24 and a 1 year high of $18.55.

TELUS (NYSE:TU - Get Free Report) TSE: T last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.69 billion. TELUS had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 4.56%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that TELUS will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TELUS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were issued a $0.297 dividend. This is a positive change from TELUS's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.50%. TELUS's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 253.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TELUS

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of TELUS by 195,100.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,952 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in TELUS during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in TELUS by 58.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,001 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,468 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of TELUS during the 2nd quarter worth $123,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont grew its position in shares of TELUS by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 7,623 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 1,218 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 49.40% of the company's stock.

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.