MQS Management LLC Has $838,000 Stock Holdings in TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU)

MQS Management LLC increased its position in shares of TELUS Co. (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T) by 437.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,369 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock after buying an additional 45,076 shares during the period. TELUS accounts for approximately 0.5% of MQS Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in TELUS were worth $838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of TU. XTX Topco Ltd grew its holdings in TELUS by 249.0% in the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 46,981 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $711,000 after buying an additional 33,519 shares during the last quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of TELUS by 1.8% in the second quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 37,453 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 653 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in TELUS by 14.6% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 485,397 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $7,349,000 after acquiring an additional 61,952 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in TELUS by 33.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 31,919 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 7,913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden boosted its holdings in TELUS by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 316,800 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $4,796,000 after purchasing an additional 38,200 shares during the period. 49.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of TELUS from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded TELUS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, TELUS currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.33.

TELUS Stock Performance

NYSE:TU opened at $16.78 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $16.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.77 billion, a PE ratio of 43.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.74. TELUS Co. has a 12-month low of $14.63 and a 12-month high of $19.14.

TELUS (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.09. TELUS had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 3.87%. The business had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.14 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that TELUS Co. will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TELUS Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.284 dividend. This is a positive change from TELUS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.77%. TELUS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 294.87%.

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.