Brokerages Set Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) Price Target at $175.20

Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eleven analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $175.20.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Thomson Reuters in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. 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. Scotiabank increased their price target 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. National Bank Financial raised Thomson Reuters from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Thomson Reuters from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th.

Thomson Reuters Stock Performance

Shares of Thomson Reuters stock opened at $162.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $166.29. Thomson Reuters has a fifty-two week low of $142.80 and a fifty-two week high of $176.03. 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 firm has a market cap of $72.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.89, a P/E/G ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 0.71.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The business services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 14.85% and a net margin of 32.12%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Thomson Reuters will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Thomson Reuters’s payout ratio is 42.52%.

Institutional Trading of Thomson Reuters

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TRI. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its stake in Thomson Reuters by 125.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 234 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group acquired a new position in Thomson Reuters during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Thomson Reuters during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 104.4% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 327 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. 17.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.