StockNews.com Downgrades Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) to Sell

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Friday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. National Bank Financial raised Thomson Reuters from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Thomson Reuters from $163.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Thomson Reuters from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $176.33.

Thomson Reuters Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of TRI stock opened at $161.20 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $72.53 billion, a PE ratio of 31.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.73. The business’s fifty day moving average is $167.38 and its 200-day moving average is $167.25. Thomson Reuters has a 1 year low of $138.09 and a 1 year high of $176.03.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The business services provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Thomson Reuters had a net margin of 32.12% and a return on equity of 14.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Thomson Reuters will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This is an increase from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Thomson Reuters’s payout ratio is presently 42.52%.

Institutional Trading of Thomson Reuters

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Thomson Reuters by 23.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,770 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,612,000 after purchasing an additional 3,223 shares during the period. &PARTNERS acquired a new stake in Thomson Reuters in the 2nd quarter valued at $278,000. Aigen Investment Management LP grew its position in Thomson Reuters by 87.4% in the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 7,326 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,250,000 after acquiring an additional 3,417 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 235,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Thomson Reuters during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,506,000. Institutional investors own 17.31% of the company’s stock.

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.