Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) Sees Strong Trading Volume

Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 725,936 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 133% from the previous session’s volume of 311,855 shares.The stock last traded at $164.60 and had previously closed at $151.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TRI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Thomson Reuters from $153.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. CIBC increased their target price on Thomson Reuters from $146.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Thomson Reuters from $142.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays upgraded Thomson Reuters from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded Thomson Reuters from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.67.

Thomson Reuters Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $73.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $155.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $145.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The business services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.06. Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 14.01% and a net margin of 39.67%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Thomson Reuters Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. This is a boost from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Thomson Reuters’s payout ratio is presently 36.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Thomson Reuters

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Thomson Reuters by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,990 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Thomson Reuters by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 382 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Thomson Reuters by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 12,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,855,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Thomson Reuters by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 1,541 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor OS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Thomson Reuters by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 1,730 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $212,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.