TELUS (NYSE:TU) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Sell”

TELUS (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

TU has been the subject of several other reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded TELUS from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Barclays reduced their price target on TELUS from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $19.00 price objective (down from $22.00) on shares of TELUS in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of TELUS in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of TELUS to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, TELUS has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.17.

TELUS Price Performance

NYSE TU opened at $13.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.13, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.67. TELUS has a 1-year low of $12.54 and a 1-year high of $16.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $13.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.55.

TELUS (NYSE:TU) (TSE:T) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.03). TELUS had a net margin of 5.42% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The firm had revenue of $3.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that TELUS will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TELUS

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in TELUS by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,500,760 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $164,635,000 after acquiring an additional 2,091,819 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lifted its stake in TELUS by 3,858.0% in the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 791,594 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $11,107,000 after purchasing an additional 771,594 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of TELUS by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 33,318,398 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $433,838,000 after purchasing an additional 955,779 shares during the last quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of TELUS during the fourth quarter valued at about $638,000. Finally, Oxford Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of TELUS in the fourth quarter worth about $192,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.40% of the company’s stock.

About TELUS

TELUS Corporation (NYSE: TU) is a Canadian telecommunications and technology company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. It delivers a broad portfolio of consumer and business communications services across Canada, including mobile wireless, fixed-line voice, broadband internet, and television. TELUS also provides a range of enterprise services such as cloud and IT solutions, managed network services, cybersecurity and Internet of Things (IoT) offerings for business customers.

Beyond core connectivity, TELUS has expanded into health and digital services.