JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd Has $9.88 Million Holdings in TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU)

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd lifted its stake in shares of TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU - Free Report) TSE: T by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 728,668 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock after acquiring an additional 17,256 shares during the quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd's holdings in TELUS were worth $9,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in shares of TELUS by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 30,219,141 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $409,662,000 after acquiring an additional 6,659,564 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of TELUS by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,801,407 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $349,841,000 after acquiring an additional 903,921 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in TELUS by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,993,662 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $149,074,000 after purchasing an additional 326,531 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in TELUS by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,254,608 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $98,372,000 after purchasing an additional 509,976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in TELUS by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,102,714 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $82,855,000 after purchasing an additional 459,112 shares in the last quarter. 49.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

TELUS Stock Down 0.7%

TELUS stock traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $15.54. The stock had a trading volume of 371,175 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,888,409. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.68. TELUS Co. has a fifty-two week low of $13.24 and a fifty-two week high of $17.27. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $14.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.53 billion, a PE ratio of 31.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.73.

TELUS Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.2989 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.69%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This is a boost from TELUS's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. TELUS's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 226.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America downgraded TELUS from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Cormark downgraded TELUS from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded TELUS from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on TELUS from $20.25 to $21.50 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, TELUS presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $21.50.

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.