Thomson Reuters (TRI) Competitors

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) and Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) are both large-cap business services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, risk, media sentiment, institutional ownership and valuation.

Is MORN or TRI a better dividend stock?

Morningstar pays an annual dividend of $1.82 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Thomson Reuters pays an annual dividend of $2.38 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Morningstar pays out 19.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Thomson Reuters pays out 49.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Morningstar has raised its dividend for 16 consecutive years.

Which has more risk & volatility, MORN or TRI?

Morningstar has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Thomson Reuters has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, MORN or TRI?

Thomson Reuters has higher revenue and earnings than Morningstar. Morningstar is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Thomson Reuters, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Morningstar	$2.28B	4.80	$369.90M	$9.39	27.57
Thomson Reuters	$7.27B	11.15	$2.21B	$4.79	37.57

Does the media favor MORN or TRI?

In the previous week, Thomson Reuters had 7 more articles in the media than Morningstar. MarketBeat recorded 35 mentions for Thomson Reuters and 28 mentions for Morningstar. Thomson Reuters' average media sentiment score of 0.90 beat Morningstar's score of 0.66 indicating that Thomson Reuters is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Morningstar	13 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Thomson Reuters	16 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is MORN or TRI more profitable?

Thomson Reuters has a net margin of 30.45% compared to Morningstar's net margin of 17.22%. Morningstar's return on equity of 23.54% beat Thomson Reuters' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Morningstar	17.22%	23.54%	10.52%
Thomson Reuters	30.45%	14.62%	9.19%

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of MORN or TRI?

57.0% of Morningstar shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 17.3% of Thomson Reuters shares are held by institutional investors. 36.2% of Morningstar shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts rate MORN or TRI?

Morningstar currently has a consensus target price of $361.67, indicating a potential upside of 39.68%. Thomson Reuters has a consensus target price of $194.20, indicating a potential upside of 7.91%. Given Morningstar's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Morningstar is more favorable than Thomson Reuters.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Morningstar	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Thomson Reuters	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.36

Summary

Morningstar beats Thomson Reuters on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.