Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $179.45 and last traded at $178.63, with a volume of 452328 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $178.93.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $175.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thomson Reuters from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Thomson Reuters from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, CIBC boosted their price target on Thomson Reuters from $165.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thomson Reuters currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $182.09.

Thomson Reuters Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.81. The company has a market cap of $80.52 billion, a PE ratio of 36.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.59 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.04. Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 30.45%. On average, equities analysts predict that Thomson Reuters Co. will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.595 dividend. This represents a $2.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This is an increase from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.17%.

Institutional Trading of Thomson Reuters

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TRI. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Thomson Reuters in the fourth quarter valued at about $148,221,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Thomson Reuters by 74.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 560,450 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 115.7% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 963,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $164,292,000 after purchasing an additional 516,715 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Thomson Reuters by 12.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 516,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 52.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,153,240 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,011,000 after purchasing an additional 395,481 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.