Shell Asset Management Co. Decreases Stake in TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU)

Shell Asset Management Co. cut its stake in shares of TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 88,653 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock after selling 3,100 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in TELUS were worth $1,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in TU. Barclays PLC grew its position in TELUS by 38.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 467,148 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $7,839,000 after buying an additional 129,934 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of TELUS by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 119,665 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $1,623,000 after acquiring an additional 5,286 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its holdings in shares of TELUS by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 1,017,200 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $13,785,000 after acquiring an additional 65,940 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC increased its stake in TELUS by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 2,225,265 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $30,103,000 after purchasing an additional 38,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its holdings in TELUS by 27.4% during the fourth quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,091,751 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $14,795,000 after purchasing an additional 234,652 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America lowered TELUS from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. National Bankshares reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of TELUS in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Cormark cut shares of TELUS from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of TELUS from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of TELUS from $20.25 to $21.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, TELUS has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.50.

TELUS Trading Up 0.5%

TELUS stock opened at $15.78 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $14.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.82. TELUS Co. has a 52 week low of $13.24 and a 52 week high of $17.27. The stock has a market cap of $23.89 billion, a PE ratio of 32.20, a P/E/G ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

TELUS Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a $0.2989 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This is a positive change from TELUS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. TELUS’s payout ratio is currently 234.69%.

TELUS Profile

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.