Analysts Set Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) Target Price at $156.85

Shares of Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $156.85.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on TRI shares. Barclays upgraded Thomson Reuters from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $180.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Thomson Reuters from $142.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $153.00 price target on shares of Thomson Reuters in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. National Bank Financial downgraded Thomson Reuters from a “sector perform under weight” rating to an “underperform underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, TD Securities raised their price target on Thomson Reuters from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th.

Thomson Reuters Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:TRI opened at $155.95 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $70.40 billion, a PE ratio of 26.71, a PEG ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.66. Thomson Reuters has a 52-week low of $117.46 and a 52-week high of $161.57. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.18.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The business services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 14.01% and a net margin of 39.67%. Thomson Reuters’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Thomson Reuters will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This is an increase from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. Thomson Reuters’s payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

Institutional Trading of Thomson Reuters

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 382 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 12,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,855,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 6,176 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $755,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC raised its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 1,730 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 7,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $897,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. 17.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.