Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday morning.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Thomson Reuters from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Thomson Reuters in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. National Bank Financial raised Thomson Reuters from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Thomson Reuters from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.20.

Thomson Reuters Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TRI opened at $164.60 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $74.06 billion, a PE ratio of 32.40, a P/E/G ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $166.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.02. Thomson Reuters has a fifty-two week low of $138.83 and a fifty-two week high of $176.03.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The business services provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 14.85% and a net margin of 32.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Thomson Reuters will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Thomson Reuters’s payout ratio is 42.52%.

Institutional Trading of Thomson Reuters

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TRI. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 115.7% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 963,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $164,292,000 after buying an additional 516,715 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 26.3% during the second quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,325,695 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $223,525,000 after purchasing an additional 276,206 shares in the last quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters during the second quarter worth approximately $45,514,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 11.0% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,577,905 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $439,665,000 after purchasing an additional 255,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 87.1% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 505,050 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $85,136,000 after purchasing an additional 235,145 shares in the last quarter. 17.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters Corporation engages in the provision of business information services in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in five segments: Legal Professionals, Corporates, Tax & Accounting Professionals, Reuters News, and Global Print. The Legal Professionals segment offers research and workflow products focusing on legal research and integrated legal workflow solutions that combine content, tools, and analytics to law firms and governments.