Scotia Capital Inc. Buys 831,282 Shares of TELUS Corporation (NYSE:TU)

Key Points

• Scotia Capital Inc. increased its stake in TELUS Corporation by 4.7% in the first quarter, acquiring 831,282 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 18.55 million shares valued at around $266.15 million.
• TELUS reported earnings of $0.16 per share for the quarter, falling short of analysts' expectations of $0.17, despite revenue exceeding forecasts at $3.74 billion.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.2989 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 7.7%, despite a high payout ratio of 212.28%.

Scotia Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of TELUS Corporation (NYSE:TU - Free Report) TSE: T by 4.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,553,552 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock after purchasing an additional 831,282 shares during the quarter. TELUS accounts for about 1.4% of Scotia Capital Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Scotia Capital Inc. owned approximately 1.23% of TELUS worth $266,146,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of TELUS by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 49,232,693 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $667,840,000 after acquiring an additional 9,068,181 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of TELUS by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 30,219,141 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $409,662,000 after acquiring an additional 6,659,564 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of TELUS by 1.2% during the first quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 16,270,907 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $233,606,000 after acquiring an additional 192,599 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of TELUS by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,993,662 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $149,074,000 after acquiring an additional 326,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in shares of TELUS by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 10,344,369 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $140,086,000 after acquiring an additional 475,625 shares in the last quarter. 49.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

TELUS Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of NYSE TU opened at $15.60 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. TELUS Corporation has a 52 week low of $13.24 and a 52 week high of $17.26. The firm's fifty day moving average is $16.24 and its 200 day moving average is $15.38. The company has a market cap of $23.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.91, a PEG ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.73.

TELUS (NYSE:TU - Get Free Report) TSE: T last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.63 billion. TELUS had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 9.11%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that TELUS Corporation will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

TELUS Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.2989 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. This is an increase from TELUS's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. TELUS's payout ratio is presently 212.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TU has been the topic of several research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of TELUS from $20.25 to $21.50 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of TELUS in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, National Bankshares reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of TELUS in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.

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