Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) Downgraded 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 report issued on Thursday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Thomson Reuters from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Thomson Reuters from $187.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Thomson Reuters from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Thomson Reuters from $175.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Thomson Reuters presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $182.09.

Thomson Reuters Stock Performance

Shares of TRI opened at $176.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Thomson Reuters has a 12-month low of $149.50 and a 12-month high of $179.45. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $165.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $166.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.47 billion, a PE ratio of 36.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.595 dividend. This is a positive change from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $2.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.17%.

Institutional Trading of Thomson Reuters

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TRI. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 139.5% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 8,544,503 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,370,564,000 after purchasing an additional 4,977,006 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Thomson Reuters in the 4th quarter worth approximately $148,221,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 74.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,315,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $214,236,000 after buying an additional 560,450 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 516,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,764,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $764,654,000 after acquiring an additional 516,605 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 17.31% of the company’s stock.

Thomson Reuters Company Profile

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.