The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases Shares of 9,520,314 TELUS Corporation $TU

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought 9.52 million TELUS shares worth approximately $100.5 million, taking a 0.60% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 49.4% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: TELUS has an average “Reduce” rating, with three Buy, nine Hold, and four Sell recommendations, and a consensus price target of $15.33.
• TELUS shares opened at $9.81, near the lower end of their 52-week range, after the company missed quarterly earnings and revenue estimates. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.1875, representing a 7.6% annualized yield.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in TELUS Corporation (NYSE:TU - Free Report) TSE: T in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 9,520,314 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock, valued at approximately $100,492,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.60% of TELUS as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of TU. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in shares of TELUS in the 2nd quarter valued at about $255,178,000. FIL Ltd grew its holdings in TELUS by 112.9% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 30,300,204 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $399,352,000 after acquiring an additional 16,066,539 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in TELUS during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,707,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in TELUS by 40.0% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,033,455 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $142,387,000 after acquiring an additional 2,583,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in TELUS by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,500,760 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $164,635,000 after acquiring an additional 2,091,819 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of TELUS in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce downgraded shares of TELUS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays set a $11.00 price target on shares of TELUS and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of TELUS in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of TELUS in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, TELUS has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $15.33.

TELUS Price Performance

TELUS stock opened at $9.81 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.94, a P/E/G ratio of 9.65 and a beta of 0.64. The company's fifty day moving average price is $10.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.67. TELUS Corporation has a 1 year low of $9.20 and a 1 year high of $16.65.

TELUS (NYSE:TU - Get Free Report) TSE: T last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.55 billion. TELUS had a positive return on equity of 8.01% and a negative net margin of 4.51%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that TELUS Corporation will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TELUS Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th will be issued a $0.1875 dividend. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 10th. TELUS's payout ratio is presently -295.12%.

TELUS Profile

TELUS Corporation NYSE: TU is a Canadian telecommunications and technology company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. It delivers a broad portfolio of consumer and business communications services across Canada, including mobile wireless, fixed-line voice, broadband internet, and television. TELUS also provides a range of enterprise services such as cloud and IT solutions, managed network services, cybersecurity and Internet of Things (IoT) offerings for business customers.

Beyond core connectivity, TELUS has expanded into health and digital services.

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