Pacifica Partners Inc. Boosts Stock Position in TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU)

Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its holdings in TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T) by 28.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,944 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,901 shares during the period. Pacifica Partners Inc.’s holdings in TELUS were worth $1,625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd grew its holdings in TELUS by 39.8% during the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 2,752 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 784 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network increased its holdings in TELUS by 5.0% in the first quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 23,169 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 1,097 shares during the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC increased its holdings in TELUS by 9.6% in the first quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 1,841,818 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $29,487,000 after buying an additional 160,600 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in TELUS by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 17,049 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 6,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in TELUS during the 4th quarter worth approximately $188,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.40% of the company’s stock.

TELUS Stock Performance

Shares of TU traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $15.85. 2,106,003 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,379,713. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.75. TELUS Co. has a 1-year low of $15.35 and a 1-year high of $19.66. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $16.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.39 billion, a PE ratio of 40.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.73.

TELUS (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. TELUS had a net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 7.90%. Equities research analysts predict that TELUS Co. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TELUS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.282 per share. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.12%. This is a positive change from TELUS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. TELUS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 289.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TU has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut TELUS from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target (down from $28.00) on shares of TELUS in a report on Monday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TELUS has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.72.

TELUS 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.