The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 1,947,355 Shares of TELUS Corporation $TU

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in TELUS Corporation by 31.9% during the first quarter, now holding approximately 4.15 million shares valued at $59.92 million.
• TELUS reported quarterly earnings of $0.16 per share, missing expectations by $0.01, although its revenue of $3.74 billion surpassed analyst predictions.
• The company announced a dividend increase to $0.3019 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 7.3%, with a significant dividend payout ratio of 263.04%.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its holdings in TELUS Corporation (NYSE:TU - Free Report) TSE: T by 31.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,155,359 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock after selling 1,947,355 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.27% of TELUS worth $59,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of TELUS by 71.9% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,321 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 971 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of TELUS by 112,425.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 4,501 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 4,497 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its holdings in shares of TELUS by 10.5% in the first quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 8,423 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of TELUS in the first quarter worth about $134,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of TELUS by 175.4% in the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 10,400 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 6,624 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.40% of the company's stock.

TELUS Trading Down 0.3%

TU traded down $0.05 on Thursday, reaching $16.43. 2,545,581 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,350,247. TELUS Corporation has a one year low of $13.24 and a one year high of $17.26. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.66. The company has a market cap of $25.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 0.72. 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 announced 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.3019 per share. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. This is a positive change from TELUS's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. TELUS's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 260.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of TELUS from $20.25 to $21.50 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of TELUS in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, National Bankshares reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of TELUS in a report on Monday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $21.50.

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.