Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) Upgraded to Outperform at National Bank Financial

National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports.

TRI has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Thomson Reuters from $170.00 to $168.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank upgraded Thomson Reuters from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $164.00 to $182.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Thomson Reuters from $163.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned 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 $173.45.

Thomson Reuters Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Thomson Reuters stock opened at $173.78 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.13 billion, a PE ratio of 33.10, a P/E/G ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.73. Thomson Reuters has a twelve month low of $117.46 and a twelve month high of $176.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $165.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $163.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. Thomson Reuters had a net margin of 33.65% and a return on equity of 15.22%. Thomson Reuters’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Thomson Reuters will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.146 dividend. This represents a $0.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Thomson Reuters

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRI. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 3.0% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 2,286 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Thomson Reuters by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,990 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Thomson Reuters by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,430 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,252,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Thomson Reuters by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,646 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avitas Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Thomson Reuters by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,508,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. 17.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.