Alberta Investment Management Corp Sells 369,600 Shares of TELUS Corporation (NYSE:TU)

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp has reduced its stake in TELUS Corporation by 12.6%, now holding 2,564,600 shares valued at approximately $36.8 million.
• In contrast, several other institutional investors have increased their positions in TELUS, with Natixis Advisors LLC increasing its stake by 49.4% during the same quarter.
• TELUS has recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.2989, resulting in an annualized yield of 7.4%, despite a payout ratio of 212.28%.

Alberta Investment Management Corp trimmed its stake in TELUS Corporation (NYSE:TU - Free Report) TSE: T by 12.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,564,600 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock after selling 369,600 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp owned approximately 0.17% of TELUS worth $36,778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in TELUS by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,784 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its holdings in TELUS by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 8,423 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. grew its holdings in TELUS by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 37,819 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $542,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in TELUS by 71.9% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,321 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in TELUS by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 22,627 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter. 49.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

TELUS Stock Performance

Shares of TELUS stock traded down $0.01 on Tuesday, reaching $15.75. The stock had a trading volume of 1,949,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,407,005. The business's 50-day moving average price is $16.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.64. TELUS Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $13.24 and a fifty-two week high of $17.26. The stock has a market cap of $24.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.73.

TELUS (NYSE:TU - Get Free Report) TSE: T last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. TELUS had a net margin of 4.67% and a return on equity of 9.01%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that TELUS Corporation will post 0.71 EPS for the current year.

TELUS Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.3019 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.7%. This is an increase from TELUS's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. TELUS's payout ratio is currently 263.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of TELUS in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. National Bankshares reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of TELUS in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of TELUS from $20.25 to $21.50 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.50.

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.