Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on TRI. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Thomson Reuters from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Thomson Reuters from $168.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Thomson Reuters from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $175.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Thomson Reuters from $187.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.56.

Thomson Reuters Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of TRI opened at $171.01 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.96. Thomson Reuters has a 52 week low of $149.50 and a 52 week high of $180.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.97, a P/E/G ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.70.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.04. Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 14.62% and a net margin of 30.45%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Thomson Reuters will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a $0.595 dividend. This is an increase from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.38 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Thomson Reuters’s payout ratio is presently 48.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Thomson Reuters

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TRI. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,819 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Thomson Reuters by 52.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,153,240 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,011,000 after acquiring an additional 395,481 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $409,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,966 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $958,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145 shares in the last quarter. 17.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.