TELUS Co. (TSE:T) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

TELUS Co. (TSE:T) (NYSE:TU) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nine research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$21.32.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised TELUS from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Desjardins set a C$23.00 target price on TELUS and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of TELUS from C$25.00 to C$20.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of TELUS from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from C$23.00 to C$19.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, National Bank Financial cut their price target on shares of TELUS from C$21.50 to C$21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 30th.

TELUS Price Performance

Shares of T opened at C$18.04 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 199.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average is C$18.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$19.59. TELUS has a twelve month low of C$17.26 and a twelve month high of C$23.18. The firm has a market capitalization of C$28.16 billion, a PE ratio of 25.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.61.

TELUS (TSE:T) (NYSE:TU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported C$0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$5.23 billion during the quarter. TELUS had a return on equity of 7.68% and a net margin of 5.47%. Research analysts anticipate that TELUS will post 1.2267985 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at TELUS

In other news, Director Hazel Cynthia Claxton purchased 3,445 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$17.46 per share, with a total value of C$60,149.70. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 8,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$146,716.38. The trade was a 69.48% increase in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director Thomas Earl Flynn purchased 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$17.45 per share, for a total transaction of C$52,350.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 14,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$251,088.05. This represents a 26.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 65,645 shares of company stock valued at $1,138,556. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About TELUS

Telus is one of the Big Three wireless service providers in Canada, with its 9 million mobile phone subscribers nationwide constituting about 30% of the total market. It is the incumbent local exchange carrier in the western Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, where it provides internet, television, and landline phone services. It also has a small wireline presence in eastern Quebec. In recent years Telus has moved to bring fiber to the home over most of its wireline footprint as it upgrades its legacy copper network, leaving it able to compete on more equal footing with cable providers.