Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Stock Position in Thomson Reuters Corp $TRI

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its Thomson Reuters stake by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 38,422 shares and ending with 984,559 shares valued at about $130.1 million.
• Thomson Reuters reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.23 versus the $1.18 estimate and revenue of $2.04 billion, up 9.8% year over year.
• The company continues to pay a sizable dividend and has mixed analyst sentiment, with a quarterly dividend of $0.655 per share yielding 3.1% and a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, though several price targets were recently cut.

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters Corp (NASDAQ:TRI - Free Report) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 984,559 shares of the company's stock after selling 38,422 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.22% of Thomson Reuters worth $130,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 21.2% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 441 shares of the company's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 50.0% during the third quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 249 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Penbrook Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Penbrook Management LLC now owns 24,948 shares of the company's stock worth $3,297,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 0.8% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 13,098 shares of the company's stock worth $2,629,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 5,743 shares of the company's stock worth $757,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 17.31% of the company's stock.

Thomson Reuters Trading Up 2.8%

NASDAQ:TRI opened at $84.49 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $90.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.58, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. Thomson Reuters Corp has a 1 year low of $78.60 and a 1 year high of $218.42.

Thomson Reuters (NASDAQ:TRI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 14.99% and a net margin of 19.93%.Thomson Reuters's revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Thomson Reuters Corp will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a $0.655 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Thomson Reuters's dividend payout ratio is 76.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $130.00 price target (down from $170.00) on shares of Thomson Reuters in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Argus assumed coverage on Thomson Reuters in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $162.40 to $101.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets set a $167.47 price objective on Thomson Reuters in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Thomson Reuters in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.84.

Thomson Reuters Company Profile

Thomson Reuters is a global provider of information and technology solutions for professional markets, including financial services, legal, tax and accounting, and media industries. The company delivers a range of data, analytics and software tools designed to help customers make informed decisions, manage risk and stay compliant with evolving regulations. Its key offerings include the Eikon financial data platform, Westlaw legal research service, Checkpoint tax and accounting solution, and Reuters News, which supplies real‐time journalism to media organizations worldwide.

Formed in 2008 through the merger of Canada's Thomson Corporation (founded in 1934) and the UK's Reuters Group (established in 1851), Thomson Reuters has built on a legacy of journalistic integrity and information innovation.

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