TELUS (NYSE:TU) Raised to Buy at TD Cowen

Key Points

• TD Cowen upgraded TELUS from a "hold" to a "buy", but the stock's consensus still sits at "Hold" with five Buy, four Hold and two Sell ratings and an average price target of $17.63.
• TELUS missed quarterly estimates (EPS $0.15 vs. $0.18 expected; revenue $3.83B vs. $3.85B) and trades around $12.16 with a market cap of $18.82 billion and a P/E of 23.38.
• Large institutions—TD Asset Management, Mackenzie, FIL, Vanguard and Manulife—have recently increased positions, leaving roughly 49.4% of the stock owned by institutional investors.

TELUS (NYSE:TU - Get Free Report) TSE: T was upgraded by TD Cowen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Several other research firms also recently commented on TU. Weiss Ratings downgraded TELUS from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. TD Securities raised shares of TELUS from a "buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of TELUS from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of TELUS from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of TELUS from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $17.63.

TELUS Stock Down 1.3%

TELUS stock opened at $12.16 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The stock has a market cap of $18.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.38, a P/E/G ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.68. The company's 50-day moving average price is $13.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.52. TELUS has a twelve month low of $11.69 and a twelve month high of $16.74.

TELUS (NYSE:TU - Get Free Report) TSE: T last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.85 billion. TELUS had a net margin of 5.42% and a return on equity of 8.42%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that TELUS will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TELUS

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of TELUS by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 36,863,219 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $580,740,000 after acquiring an additional 550,574 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of TELUS by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 33,318,398 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $433,838,000 after purchasing an additional 955,779 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its position in shares of TELUS by 112.9% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 30,300,204 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $399,352,000 after purchasing an additional 16,066,539 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in TELUS by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,470,046 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $388,415,000 after purchasing an additional 916,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in TELUS by 258.3% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 19,816,565 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $261,727,000 after purchasing an additional 14,285,486 shares in the last quarter. 49.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

TELUS Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.