Bank of Nova Scotia Grows Stock Holdings in TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU)

Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T) by 28.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,219,141 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,659,564 shares during the period. TELUS accounts for about 0.8% of Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Bank of Nova Scotia owned approximately 2.01% of TELUS worth $409,662,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in TELUS by 195,100.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,952 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in TELUS by 1,756.0% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,807 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 4,548 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of TELUS in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $142,000. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. acquired a new position in shares of TELUS in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $146,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of TELUS during the fourth quarter worth approximately $190,000. 49.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on TU shares. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of TELUS from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Cormark lowered TELUS from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on TELUS in a report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Bank of America downgraded TELUS from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of TELUS from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

TELUS Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:TU opened at $14.26 on Tuesday. TELUS Co. has a 12-month low of $13.24 and a 12-month high of $17.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.09, a P/E/G ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.70.

TELUS (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.64 billion. TELUS had a net margin of 4.85% and a return on equity of 9.07%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that TELUS Co. will post 0.71 EPS for the current year.

TELUS Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.2829 per share. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.94%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. TELUS’s payout ratio is currently 226.53%.

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.