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

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

TRI has been the subject of several other research reports. National Bank Financial raised shares of Thomson Reuters from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Thomson Reuters in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Thomson Reuters from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.20.

Thomson Reuters Price Performance

NYSE TRI opened at $170.21 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $76.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $166.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $166.84. Thomson Reuters has a 1 year low of $138.83 and a 1 year high of $176.03.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The business services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 14.85% and a net margin of 32.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Thomson Reuters will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. This is an increase from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Thomson Reuters

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in Thomson Reuters during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 125.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 234 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in Thomson Reuters in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Thomson Reuters in the 3rd quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Thomson Reuters by 104.4% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 327 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 17.31% of the company’s stock.

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.