The Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) share price may be in the red today, but it is still a market beater in 2019.
Since the start of the year the Telstra share price has put on a gain of 15% compared to the ASX 200's gain of approximately 9.5%.
It is also worth noting that during this time the telco giant has paid an 8 cents per share interim dividend. If you add this into the equation, Telstra's shares have provided a return of approximately 17.5% since the turn of the year.
Is it too late to buy Telstra shares?
Whilst I'm staying away from Telstra and industry peers TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPM) and Vocus Group Ltd (ASX: VOC) due to concerns over intense competition and weak NBN margins, not everyone is as bearish on the company as I am.
A note out of Goldman Sachs earlier this month reveals that its analysts have a conviction buy rating and $3.85 price target on Telstra's shares.
This price target implies potential upside of almost 18% for the Telstra share price over the next 12 months.
According to the note, the broker believes Telstra is well-positioned to hit the top-end of its FY 2019 underlying guidance range following its strong performance in the first half.
Looking ahead, the broker is positive on the company for a number of reasons including continued subscriber momentum, improved mobile ARPU trajectory, and ongoing cost reductions.
Overall, the broker believes the company is well-placed to grow its underlying return on invested capital (ROIC) by +43bps in FY 2020, before exceeding 10% by FY 2023. This compares to an underlying ROIC of 6.3% in the first half.
Incidentally, Goldman isn't alone with its buy rating. Last month analysts at Deutsche Bank and Morgans also rated Telstra as a buy. They have $3.70 and $3.62 price targets, respectively, on the company's shares.
