Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Sells 2,647,564 Shares of TELUS Corporation (NYSE:TU)

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. reduced its stake in TELUS Corporation by 85.7%, owning 442,082 shares after selling over 2.6 million shares in the first quarter.
• TELUS reported $0.16 EPS for the last quarter, missing estimates by $0.01, while its revenue of $3.74 billion exceeded expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.3019 per share, representing a yield of 7.5%, which indicates a slight increase from its previous dividend.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of TELUS Corporation (NYSE:TU - Free Report) TSE: T by 85.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 442,082 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock after selling 2,647,564 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in TELUS were worth $6,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 795 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted 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 acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Walter Public Investments Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 819 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted 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 valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 971 shares during the period. Finally, Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC boosted 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 valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares during the period. 49.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on TELUS from $20.25 to $21.50 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. National Bankshares reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of TELUS in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of TELUS in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $21.50.

TELUS Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:TU traded up $0.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $16.39. The stock had a trading volume of 2,502,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,161,434. TELUS Corporation has a 12 month low of $13.24 and a 12 month high of $17.26. The company has a market capitalization of $24.99 billion, a PE ratio of 35.63, a PEG ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.73. The firm's fifty day moving average is $16.19 and its 200 day moving average is $15.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72.

TELUS (NYSE:TU - Get Free Report) TSE: T last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.01). TELUS had a net margin of 4.67% and a return on equity of 9.10%. The company had revenue of $3.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.25 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that TELUS Corporation will post 0.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TELUS Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3019 per share. This is a boost from TELUS's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. 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 7.4%. TELUS's dividend payout ratio is 260.87%.

About TELUS

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.