As most investors would be acutely aware, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) hasn't exactly had a smooth run in 2022 thus far. In fact, even after yesterday's gains, the ASX 200 remains down by almost 5.8% year to date. But the Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) share price has fared even worse.
Telstra shares were in the red yesterday and closed at $3.91 a share. The ASX 200 telco also remains down by a nasty 6.9% in 2022 so far. What's more, the company last peaked at its current reigning 52-week high of $4.31 back in mid-January. That means Telstra has now dropped more than 9% over the past 6 weeks or so.
So what has gone wrong with the Telstra share price?
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Telstra starts 2022 off on the wrong side of the bed
Well, it's not too clear. There have been a number of developments around the company though that may have contributed.
The first is the recruitment of the former New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian by Telstra's rival telco Optus that was announced last month. As my Fool colleague Monica covered at the time, this move had one analyst predict the reaction at Telstra would be one of "quaking in their boots". Investors seemed to share that sentiment, with the Telstra share price losing some steam at the time.
Another factor may have been Telstra's half-year earnings report that the company divulged on 17 February. This saw the company announce underlying earnings growth of 5.1%, as well as an 8 cent per share interim dividend. That dividend was flat on the previous year's payout. This may have disappointed some investors, many of whom may have been hoping for a pay rise after a few years of a static 16 cents per share annual dividend. The company traded ex-dividend for this payout earlier this week, which has also dented the company's recent performance.
But a final factor to consider is the Telstra share price itself. Telstra, as a blue-chip ASX 200 telco, doesn't exactly have a reputation as a hot growth share. It still hasn't ever risen above its all-time high of almost $9 that we saw back in 1999, after all. And yet 2021 saw Telstra shares return a very pleasing 43%. Even after yesterday's close, the telco remains up more than 27% over the past 12 months.
After a run of that nature, it's not exactly unusual for an ASX share to have a breather.
Is the Telstra share price a buy today?
So those might be some of the reasons why Telstra shares have had a rather lacklustre 6 weeks. But it's not all bad news.
As my Fool colleague James recently covered, broker Morgans is expecting more gains out of Telstra soon. It currently has an add rating on the telco, complete with a 12-month share price target of $4.56. That would represent a gain of more than 16% on yesterday's close.
At Telstra's last share price, this ASX 200 telecom has a market capitalisation of $46.17 billion, with a dividend yield of 4.09%
