TELUS (TSE:T) Stock Passes Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• TELUS passed below its 200‑day moving average (200‑day MA C$20.45), trading as low as C$18.80 and last at C$18.88 on volume of about 7.09 million shares, signaling technical weakness.
• Major firms (Scotiabank, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, BMO, TD) have cut targets or downgraded TELUS; the consensus rating is a Moderate Buy with an average price target of C$21.95.
• Notable insider buying: Director Darren Entwistle purchased 190,000 shares at C$17.38 and insiders acquired 258,245 shares in the past 90 days, despite insiders owning only 0.02% of the company.

TELUS Co. (TSE:T - Get Free Report) NYSE: TU passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$20.45 and traded as low as C$18.80. TELUS shares last traded at C$18.88, with a volume of 7,085,292 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

T has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank reduced their price target on TELUS from C$22.50 to C$22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of TELUS from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and reduced their target price for the company from C$22.00 to C$19.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of TELUS from C$25.00 to C$20.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of TELUS from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from C$23.00 to C$19.00 in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, TD Securities decreased their price objective on shares of TELUS from C$26.00 to C$25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, TELUS presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of C$21.95.

TELUS Trading Down 0.6%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 183.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of C$18.26 and a 200-day moving average price of C$20.45. The company has a market capitalization of C$29.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.85.

TELUS (TSE:T - Get Free Report) NYSE: TU last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported C$0.24 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$5.07 billion during the quarter. TELUS had a return on equity of 5.80% and a net margin of 4.62%. Research analysts predict that TELUS Co. will post 1.2267985 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at TELUS

In related news, Director Darren Entwistle purchased 190,000 shares of TELUS stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$17.38 per share, with a total value of C$3,302,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 1,070,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$18,609,478.58. This trade represents a 21.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director David Lawrence Mowat purchased 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of C$17.37 per share, for a total transaction of C$52,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$251,621.82. The trade was a 26.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 258,245 shares of company stock worth $4,486,022. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About TELUS

Telus is one of the Big Three wireless service providers in Canada, with its 9 million mobile phone subscribers nationwide constituting about 30% of the total market. It is the incumbent local exchange carrier in the western Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, where it provides internet, television, and landline phone services. It also has a small wireline presence in eastern Quebec. In recent years Telus has moved to bring fiber to the home over most of its wireline footprint as it upgrades its legacy copper network, leaving it able to compete on more equal footing with cable providers.

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