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

StockNews.com lowered shares of Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on TRI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Thomson Reuters from $175.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective 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. CIBC raised their target price on shares of Thomson Reuters from $165.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Thomson Reuters from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Thomson Reuters from $168.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Thomson Reuters currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $182.09.

Thomson Reuters Stock Performance

Shares of TRI opened at $176.59 on Thursday. 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 has a 12 month low of $149.50 and a 12 month high of $179.45. The company’s fifty day moving average is $165.63 and its 200-day moving average is $166.38. The firm has a market cap of $79.47 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.04. Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 14.62% and a net margin of 30.45%. Equities analysts expect that Thomson Reuters will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Thomson Reuters

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thomson Reuters in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Thomson Reuters in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of Thomson Reuters during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors 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.