Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $29.65 Million Stock Position in TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its position in shares of TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,766,811 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock after selling 16,362 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.12% of TELUS worth $29,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in TELUS by 8.9% during the third quarter. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,233,944 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $54,249,000 after purchasing an additional 263,774 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its stake in shares of TELUS by 159.6% during the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 140,539 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $2,360,000 after buying an additional 86,393 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of TELUS by 0.8% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,473,465 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $24,760,000 after buying an additional 11,700 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of TELUS by 43.4% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 101,590 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $1,705,000 after buying an additional 30,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicola Wealth Management LTD. grew its stake in shares of TELUS by 35.7% during the third quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. now owns 1,060,819 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $17,801,000 after buying an additional 279,000 shares during the last quarter. 49.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TELUS Stock Performance

Shares of TELUS stock opened at $15.48 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. TELUS Co. has a twelve month low of $14.63 and a twelve month high of $19.14. The stock has a market cap of $23.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s fifty day moving average is $16.05 and its 200 day moving average is $16.06.

TELUS (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.11. TELUS had a net margin of 4.56% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. TELUS’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that TELUS Co. will post 0.73 EPS for the current year.

TELUS Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.297 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.67%. This is a boost from TELUS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. TELUS’s dividend payout ratio is 244.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of TELUS from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Scotiabank raised shares of TELUS from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of TELUS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

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.