Thomson Reuters (NASDAQ:TRI) Stock Jumps 6.5% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Thomson Reuters shares jumped 6.5% to $122.72, although trading volume was 77% below the average session volume.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.99 EPS versus $0.96 expected and $1.93 billion in revenue, up 9.5% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with an overall “Moderate Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $130.69, while the company pays a $2.62 annualized dividend yielding about 2.1%.

Thomson Reuters Corp (NASDAQ:TRI - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 6.5% during trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $122.25 and last traded at $122.72. Approximately 487,813 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 2,149,547 shares. The stock had previously closed at $115.26.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on TRI. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $121.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Scotia cut their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector outperform" rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Thomson Reuters in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Thomson Reuters from $132.50 to $129.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $110.00 price target on Thomson Reuters and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $130.69.

Thomson Reuters Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a 50 day moving average of $102.63 and a 200-day moving average of $94.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.75.

Thomson Reuters (NASDAQ:TRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.03. Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 15.82% and a net margin of 21.22%. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Thomson Reuters Corp will post 4.48 EPS for the current year.

Thomson Reuters Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a $0.6550 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Thomson Reuters's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Thomson Reuters by 48.7% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,627,069 shares of the company's stock worth $146,404,000 after acquiring an additional 532,803 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Thomson Reuters by 33.3% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,588,756 shares of the company's stock valued at $142,956,000 after purchasing an additional 397,150 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Thomson Reuters by 65.1% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,500,365 shares of the company's stock worth $135,297,000 after purchasing an additional 591,642 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its position in Thomson Reuters by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,468,484 shares of the company's stock worth $143,304,000 after purchasing an additional 171,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Thomson Reuters in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $107,223,000. Institutional investors own 17.31% of the company's stock.

About Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters is a global provider of information, software and technology solutions for professionals and institutions. The company serves customers in the legal, tax, accounting, audit, corporate, government, risk and compliance sectors, as well as the media industry. Its offerings combine authoritative content with workflow tools, data analytics and artificial intelligence.

Key products and services include Westlaw and Practical Law for legal research and practice management; Checkpoint and ONESOURCE for tax and accounting professionals; Confirmation for audit-related workflows; and CoCounsel, an AI-assisted legal technology platform.

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