Wellington Management Group LLP Cuts Position in TELUS Corporation $TU

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its stake in TELUS Corporation by 35.1%, selling 136,912 shares and leaving them with 253,230 shares valued at approximately $3.63 million.
• TELUS recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.3019 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $1.21 and a yield of 7.3%, with a payout ratio of 263.04%.
• Despite missing earnings estimates with an EPS of $0.16, TELUS reported a revenue increase of 2.2% year-over-year, totaling $3.74 billion for the quarter.

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its position in shares of TELUS Corporation (NYSE:TU - Free Report) TSE: T by 35.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 253,230 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock after selling 136,912 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP's holdings in TELUS were worth $3,632,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of TELUS during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $190,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in TELUS by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 779,525 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $10,570,000 after buying an additional 230,234 shares during the last quarter. Anson Funds Management LP bought a new position in shares of TELUS during the 4th quarter valued at $2,036,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $7,249,000 after buying an additional 107,806 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of TELUS by 76.5% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 239,792 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $3,252,000 after buying an additional 103,967 shares during the last quarter. 49.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on TU shares. National Bankshares reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of TELUS in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of TELUS from $20.25 to $21.50 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of TELUS in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.50.

TELUS Price Performance

TELUS stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,823,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,345,948. TELUS Corporation has a one year low of $13.24 and a one year high of $17.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 0.72. The firm's 50 day moving average is $16.29 and its 200 day moving average is $15.66.

TELUS (NYSE:TU - Get Free Report) TSE: T last released 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). The business had revenue of $3.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. TELUS had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 4.67%.The business's revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that TELUS Corporation will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TELUS Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.3019 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.3%. This is an increase from TELUS's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. TELUS's payout ratio is presently 263.04%.

TELUS 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.