Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) Trading Up 10.4% – Time to Buy?

Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) rose 10.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $90.79 and last traded at $89.28. Approximately 2,462,052 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 6% from the average daily volume of 2,315,682 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.86.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group set a $131.50 price objective on Thomson Reuters in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Thomson Reuters from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $126.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets set a $165.00 price target on Thomson Reuters in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $156.00 price objective (down from $189.00) on shares of Thomson Reuters in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $140.00 target price on shares of Thomson Reuters and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Thomson Reuters presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.42.

Thomson Reuters Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $44.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $113.27 and its 200-day moving average is $140.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. Thomson Reuters had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 14.62%. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Thomson Reuters Co. will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.655 per share. This is a boost from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Thomson Reuters

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Thomson Reuters by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,414 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in Thomson Reuters by 30.9% in the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Thomson Reuters by 21.2% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 441 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 50.0% during the third quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,274 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 17.31% of the company’s stock.

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.