Ameriprise Financial Inc. Boosts Position in TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU - Free Report) TSE: T by 25.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 528,246 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock after acquiring an additional 107,806 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc.'s holdings in TELUS were worth $7,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of TU. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of TELUS by 38.5% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of TELUS by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 87,419 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $1,185,000 after acquiring an additional 2,840 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of TELUS by 1,756.0% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,807 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 4,548 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of TELUS by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 375,091 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $5,074,000 after acquiring an additional 26,655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its stake in shares of TELUS by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 1,017,200 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $13,785,000 after acquiring an additional 65,940 shares during the last quarter. 49.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

TELUS Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of TU traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $16.06. The company had a trading volume of 3,257,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,921,962. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $14.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.78, 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.

TELUS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.44%. TELUS's payout ratio is presently 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.