Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• Thomson Reuters experienced a significant increase in short interest, rising by 66.0% to 4,730,000 shares as of July 31, with a days-to-cover ratio of 3.7 days.
• The company's stock price rose by 0.9% to $172.94, and it reported earnings per share of $0.87 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.83.
• Thomson Reuters announced a quarterly dividend of $0.595 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.4% and a payout ratio of 65.75%.

Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI - Get Free Report) TSE: TRI was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 4,730,000 shares, agrowthof66.0% from the July 15th total of 2,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days. Currently,3.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Currently,3.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Thomson Reuters Stock Up 0.9%

TRI stock traded up $1.62 during trading on Monday, reaching $172.94. 1,024,529 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 882,613. Thomson Reuters has a 12 month low of $151.60 and a 12 month high of $218.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.43. The company has a market capitalization of $77.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI - Get Free Report) TSE: TRI last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.79 billion. Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 14.62% and a net margin of 30.45%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Thomson Reuters will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be issued a $0.595 dividend. This represents a $2.38 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. Thomson Reuters's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Thomson Reuters

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRI. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Thomson Reuters by 139.5% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 8,544,503 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,370,564,000 after acquiring an additional 4,977,006 shares in the last quarter. TLT Family Holdco ULC purchased a new position in Thomson Reuters during the second quarter valued at approximately $865,442,000. LCC Family Corp. purchased a new position in Thomson Reuters during the second quarter valued at approximately $813,253,000. SEG Family Corp. purchased a new position in Thomson Reuters during the second quarter valued at approximately $659,930,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Thomson Reuters during the second quarter valued at approximately $275,036,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 17.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on TRI. National Bankshares reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Thomson Reuters in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. TD Securities cut their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $215.00 to $208.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $181.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Scotiabank upgraded Thomson Reuters from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $188.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Thomson Reuters from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Thomson Reuters has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $194.20.

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.

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