The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases 591,642 Shares of Thomson Reuters Corp $TRI

Key Points

• Manulife increased its Thomson Reuters stake by 65.1%, purchasing 591,642 additional shares to hold 1.5 million shares valued at approximately $135.3 million, or 0.34% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Thomson Reuters receiving a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $143.92, despite several recent target reductions.
• Thomson Reuters exceeded quarterly earnings expectations with $1.23 in EPS and $2.04 billion in revenue, while revenue grew 9.8% year over year; the company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.655 per share, yielding about 2.5%.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Thomson Reuters Corp (NASDAQ:TRI - Free Report) by 65.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,500,365 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 591,642 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.34% of Thomson Reuters worth $135,297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in TRI. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Thomson Reuters during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Thomson Reuters in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Thomson Reuters in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in Thomson Reuters during the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Thomson Reuters by 135.8% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 823 shares of the company's stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 17.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on TRI shares. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $115.00 to $98.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $130.00 price target (down from $170.00) on shares of Thomson Reuters in a research report on Friday, May 8th. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Thomson Reuters in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $85.00 price objective on Thomson Reuters and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $138.00 price objective on Thomson Reuters and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $143.92.

Thomson Reuters Trading Up 5.7%

TRI stock opened at $103.29 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $86.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Thomson Reuters Corp has a fifty-two week low of $76.28 and a fifty-two week high of $204.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Thomson Reuters Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.655 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Thomson Reuters's dividend payout ratio is currently 76.16%.

Thomson Reuters 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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