Thomson Reuters (NASDAQ:TRI) Initiates Stock Buyback Plan

Thomson Reuters (NASDAQ:TRI) declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, November 11th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buy back $500 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Thomson Reuters Stock Performance

Shares of Thomson Reuters stock opened at $109.30 on Friday. Thomson Reuters has a fifty-two week low of $76.28 and a fifty-two week high of $142.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.69. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $106.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.73.

Thomson Reuters (NASDAQ:TRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.08). Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 20.02%. The company had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Thomson Reuters will post 4.20 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be given a $0.6550 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 18th. This represents a $2.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on TRI shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Thomson Reuters in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Thomson Reuters from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Thomson Reuters in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Scotia dropped their target price on shares of Thomson Reuters from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.96.

About Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters is a global provider of information, software and services for legal, tax, accounting, compliance, risk and financial professionals. Its products help customers research complex issues, manage workflows and make informed decisions. Key offerings include Westlaw and Practical Law for legal research and practice management, Checkpoint for tax and accounting research, and ONESOURCE for tax and trade compliance. The company also provides news and information through Reuters, its global news organization.