Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $156.4231.

Several research analysts have issued reports on TRI shares. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Thomson Reuters in a research report on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets set a $165.00 target price on shares of Thomson Reuters in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $140.00 price target on shares of Thomson Reuters and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price target on shares of Thomson Reuters in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $174.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TRI. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its stake in Thomson Reuters by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,414 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Thomson Reuters by 30.9% in the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 21.2% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 441 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 50.0% in the third quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 3.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,274 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $659,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 17.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Thomson Reuters Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TRI opened at $96.41 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $111.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.86. Thomson Reuters has a 52-week low of $79.71 and a 52-week high of $218.42. The company has a market cap of $42.90 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2 billion. Thomson Reuters had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 14.62%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Thomson Reuters will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a $0.655 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.68%.

About Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI) is a multinational information and media company that provides content, technology and services to professionals in the legal, tax & accounting, compliance, risk, corporate and media sectors. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, the company combines news and editorial content from the Reuters news agency with specialist workflow platforms and databases designed to support decision-making and regulatory compliance across industries worldwide.

The company’s product portfolio spans legal research and workflow tools, tax and accounting software, regulatory and risk management solutions, and real-time news and data services.