TELUS (NYSE:TU) Reaches New 1-Year Low - Should You Sell?

TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU - Get Free Report) TSE: T hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $13.74 and last traded at $13.87, with a volume of 4863981 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $14.05.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TU has been the topic of a number of research reports. National Bank Financial lowered shares of TELUS from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of TELUS from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com cut TELUS from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on TELUS in a research report on Monday. They issued an "equal weight" rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, TELUS presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.00.

TELUS Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company's 50 day moving average is $15.53 and its 200-day moving average is $15.91. The company has a market capitalization of $20.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.73.

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

TELUS Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.297 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.64%. This is a positive change from TELUS's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. TELUS's payout ratio is presently 253.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in TELUS in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of TELUS by 60.4% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,533 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 954 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its stake in shares of TELUS by 19.0% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 7,623 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 1,218 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TELUS during the second quarter worth about $123,000. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in TELUS during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $163,000. 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.