TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU) Stock Holdings Raised by Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. boosted its holdings in TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU - Free Report) TSE: T by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,050,077 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock after acquiring an additional 33,782 shares during the quarter. TELUS accounts for approximately 2.9% of Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. owned 0.14% of TELUS worth $27,799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of TELUS by 195,100.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,952 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,951 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in TELUS by 1,756.0% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,807 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 4,548 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in TELUS during the fourth quarter valued at about $142,000. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. bought a new position in TELUS during the fourth quarter worth about $146,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of TELUS in the fourth quarter worth about $190,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.40% of the company's stock.

TELUS Price Performance

NYSE:TU traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $15.07. The stock had a trading volume of 822,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,854,215. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.77, a P/E/G ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.61. TELUS Co. has a one year low of $13.24 and a one year high of $17.27.

TELUS (NYSE:TU - Get Free Report) TSE: T last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.02. TELUS had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 4.85%. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that TELUS Co. will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TELUS Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a $0.2829 dividend. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.51%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. TELUS's dividend payout ratio is currently 226.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on TU. StockNews.com upgraded shares of TELUS from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America cut TELUS from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Cormark cut TELUS from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

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.