K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Boosts Stake in TELUS Corporation $TU

Key Points

• K.J. Harrison & Partners increased its stake in TELUS by 307.9% in Q4, buying 167,714 shares to hold 222,192 shares worth about $2.93 million.
• Analysts are mixed on TELUS with a consensus rating of "Hold" (five Buys, four Holds, two Sells) and a consensus price target of $17.63, while Bank of America recently upgraded the stock to Buy and raised its target to $16.00.
• TELUS missed quarterly EPS ($0.15 vs. $0.18 expected) and pays a large dividend (quarterly $0.4184, annualized yield 13.0%) with a payout ratio of 236.54%, highlighting potential income appeal but payout sustainability concerns.

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc grew its position in shares of TELUS Corporation (NYSE:TU - Free Report) TSE: T by 307.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 222,192 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock after buying an additional 167,714 shares during the quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc's holdings in TELUS were worth $2,933,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of TU. Walter Public Investments Inc. boosted its position in TELUS by 1.9% in the third quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 39,334 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of TELUS by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 11,483 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 755 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of TELUS by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,926 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of TELUS by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 46,099 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $739,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of TELUS by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 10,953 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $173,000 after buying an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of TELUS from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $14.50 to $16.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. TD Securities upgraded TELUS from a "buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered TELUS from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Weiss Ratings downgraded TELUS from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered TELUS from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, TELUS currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $17.63.

TELUS Stock Performance

NYSE TU opened at $12.86 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $19.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The company's 50 day moving average is $12.90 and its 200-day moving average is $13.43. TELUS Corporation has a 12-month low of $11.69 and a 12-month high of $16.74.

TELUS (NYSE:TU - Get Free Report) TSE: T last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.03). TELUS had a net margin of 5.42% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The business had revenue of $3.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that TELUS Corporation will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

TELUS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were given a $0.4184 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.0%. TELUS's payout ratio is 236.54%.

About TELUS

TELUS Corporation NYSE: TU is a Canadian telecommunications and technology company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. It delivers a broad portfolio of consumer and business communications services across Canada, including mobile wireless, fixed-line voice, broadband internet, and television. TELUS also provides a range of enterprise services such as cloud and IT solutions, managed network services, cybersecurity and Internet of Things (IoT) offerings for business customers.

Beyond core connectivity, TELUS has expanded into health and digital services.

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