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

Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $188.5455.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TRI shares. Huber Research upgraded Thomson Reuters to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Thomson Reuters from $208.00 to $182.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $186.00 price target on Thomson Reuters and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Thomson Reuters from $212.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $189.00 target price (down from $200.00) on shares of Thomson Reuters in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Thomson Reuters

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Thomson Reuters by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 5,743 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $757,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 230,164 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,316,000 after acquiring an additional 28,080 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Thomson Reuters by 340.9% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 185,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,502,000 after acquiring an additional 143,369 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its position in Thomson Reuters by 29.6% during the 4th quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 827 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. boosted its position in Thomson Reuters by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 93,832 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,376,000 after purchasing an additional 11,832 shares during the period. 17.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Thomson Reuters Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE:TRI opened at $117.28 on Thursday. Thomson Reuters has a 52-week low of $116.86 and a 52-week high of $218.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.43. The company has a market capitalization of $52.19 billion, a PE ratio of 23.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.80.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The business services provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.04. Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 14.62% and a net margin of 30.45%.The firm had revenue of $1.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Thomson Reuters will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.595 per share. This represents a $2.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 18th. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.18%.

Thomson Reuters Company Profile

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.