Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) Price Target Raised to $173.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) had its price objective raised by Royal Bank of Canada from $171.00 to $173.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. National Bank Financial upgraded Thomson Reuters from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Thomson Reuters from $163.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Thomson Reuters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $164.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $176.33.

Thomson Reuters Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of TRI stock traded up $1.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $167.91. 51,946 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 355,147. Thomson Reuters has a 1 year low of $127.68 and a 1 year high of $176.03. The stock has a market cap of $75.54 billion, a PE ratio of 31.92, a PEG ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $168.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.61.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The business services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 15.22% and a net margin of 33.65%. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Thomson Reuters will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.54 per share. This is a positive change from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 4,047,773 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $630,534,000 after purchasing an additional 295,301 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 26.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,325,695 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $223,525,000 after purchasing an additional 276,206 shares in the last quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new position in Thomson Reuters in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,514,000. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 87.1% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 505,050 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $85,136,000 after purchasing an additional 235,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Thomson Reuters in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,250,000. Hedge funds and other 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.