Aviso Financial Inc. Cuts Stake in Thomson Reuters Co. $TRI

Key Points

• Aviso Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Thomson Reuters Co. by 6.0%, now holding 69,693 shares valued at approximately $12.03 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. and Fifth Third Bancorp, significantly increased their holdings in Thomson Reuters during the first quarter.
• Thomson Reuters reported better-than-expected earnings with $0.87 EPS and has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.595 per share, yielding 1.4%.

Aviso Financial Inc. lessened its stake in Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI - Free Report) TSE: TRI by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,693 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,470 shares during the quarter. Aviso Financial Inc.'s holdings in Thomson Reuters were worth $12,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TRI. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 14.5% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 231,880 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,064,000 after purchasing an additional 29,326 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 81.1% in the first quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 44,488 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,682,000 after purchasing an additional 19,925 shares in the last quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 2,723.3% in the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 8,978 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,551,000 after purchasing an additional 8,660 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC raised its position in Thomson Reuters by 40.1% during the first quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 7,065 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,219,000 after acquiring an additional 2,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Thomson Reuters during the first quarter worth $23,126,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 17.31% of the company's stock.

Thomson Reuters Stock Up 1.4%

TRI stock traded up $2.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $178.55. 1,237,461 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 890,218. The company has a market cap of $80.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.51, a P/E/G ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.77. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $194.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Thomson Reuters Co. has a 52 week low of $151.60 and a 52 week high of $218.42.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI - Get Free Report) TSE: TRI last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.79 billion. Thomson Reuters had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 14.62%. Thomson Reuters's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Thomson Reuters Co. will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.595 per share. This represents a $2.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. Thomson Reuters's payout ratio is currently 65.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank raised shares of Thomson Reuters from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $188.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. National Bankshares restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Thomson Reuters in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Thomson Reuters from $213.00 to $187.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. TD Securities reduced their price target on shares of Thomson Reuters from $215.00 to $208.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Thomson Reuters from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $194.20.

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.