Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) Stock

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) had its target price hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $165.00 to $177.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. CIBC lifted their price target on Thomson Reuters from $164.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thomson Reuters from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Thomson Reuters from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Thomson Reuters from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $182.09.

Thomson Reuters Price Performance

TRI stock opened at $176.56 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $79.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.11, a P/E/G ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 0.73. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $165.49. Thomson Reuters has a 1 year low of $149.14 and a 1 year high of $178.35.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.04. Thomson Reuters had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 14.78%. Research analysts anticipate that Thomson Reuters will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.595 per share. This is a boost from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Thomson Reuters

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Strategic Investment Advisors MI boosted its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 2,318 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 4,335 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $695,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,196 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Thomson Reuters by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,235 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $722,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in Thomson Reuters by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 1,271 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $204,000 after buying an additional 68 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.