Squarepoint Ops LLC Makes New Investment in TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU)

Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU - Free Report) TSE: T in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 69,482 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock, valued at approximately $942,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in TELUS by 38.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 467,148 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $7,839,000 after acquiring an additional 129,934 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of TELUS by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 528,246 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $7,249,000 after purchasing an additional 107,806 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of TELUS by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 119,665 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $1,623,000 after purchasing an additional 5,286 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of TELUS by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 779,525 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $10,570,000 after purchasing an additional 230,234 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of TELUS by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 279,527 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $3,790,000 after purchasing an additional 7,447 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of TELUS from $20.25 to $21.50 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of TELUS from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. National Bankshares restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of TELUS in a report on Monday, May 12th. Cormark downgraded TELUS from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Bank of America cut TELUS from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, TELUS currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.50.

TELUS Price Performance

TU traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $16.40. 3,286,423 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,926,519. The business's 50-day moving average price is $15.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.82 billion, a PE ratio of 33.46, a P/E/G ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.73. TELUS Co. has a 1-year low of $13.24 and a 1-year high of $17.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

TELUS Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2989 per share. This is a boost from TELUS's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. TELUS's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 201.75%.

TELUS Company 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.