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

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

TRI has been the topic of a number of other reports. National Bank Financial upgraded Thomson Reuters from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Thomson Reuters from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Thomson Reuters from $163.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Thomson Reuters from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $176.33.

Thomson Reuters Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:TRI opened at $160.72 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $167.14 and a 200 day moving average of $167.20. The company has a market cap of $72.31 billion, a PE ratio of 31.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.45 and a beta of 0.73. Thomson Reuters has a 12-month low of $138.30 and a 12-month high of $176.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last posted 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. The business 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 company’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Thomson Reuters will post 3.69 EPS for the current year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. This is a positive change from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.52%.

Institutional Trading of Thomson Reuters

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 115.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 963,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $164,292,000 after purchasing an additional 516,715 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 26.3% in the second quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,325,695 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $223,525,000 after acquiring an additional 276,206 shares during the period. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters in the second quarter valued at $45,514,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Thomson Reuters by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,577,905 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $439,665,000 after acquiring an additional 255,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 87.1% during 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 during the last quarter. 17.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.