Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU - Free Report) TSE: T by 27.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,300 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock after selling 21,204 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in TELUS were worth $763,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of TU. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in TELUS by 1,756.0% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,807 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 4,548 shares in the last quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. acquired a new position in TELUS during the 4th quarter worth $146,000. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in TELUS during the 3rd quarter worth $187,000. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in TELUS by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 15,270 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 3,110 shares in the last quarter. 49.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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TELUS Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:TU traded up $0.20 on Friday, hitting $15.82. 4,147,513 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,680,731. The firm's 50-day moving average is $14.58 and its 200 day moving average is $15.37. The company has a market capitalization of $23.72 billion, a PE ratio of 32.28, a P/E/G ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.72. TELUS Co. has a 1-year low of $13.24 and a 1-year high of $17.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.68.

TELUS (NYSE:TU - Get Free Report) TSE: T last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.64 billion. TELUS had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 4.85%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that TELUS Co. will post 0.71 EPS for the current year.

TELUS Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.2829 dividend. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. TELUS's payout ratio is currently 226.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Cormark cut TELUS from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on TELUS in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an "equal weight" rating for the company. National Bank Financial cut TELUS from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised TELUS from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Five 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.00.

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.