Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) Sees Strong Trading Volume Following Earnings Beat

Shares of Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. Approximately 725,936 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 133% from the previous session’s volume of 311,855 shares.The stock last traded at $164.60 and had previously closed at $151.48.

The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. Thomson Reuters had a net margin of 34.87% and a return on equity of 15.43%. Thomson Reuters’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.85 EPS.

Thomson Reuters Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Thomson Reuters’s payout ratio is currently 41.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TRI shares. Barclays raised shares of 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 research report on Thursday, March 14th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $159.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. TD Securities increased their target price on Thomson Reuters from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Thomson Reuters from $149.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Thomson Reuters from $153.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Thomson Reuters presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.31.

Institutional Trading of Thomson Reuters

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters during the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,438,000. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 3.4% in the third quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,052 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $741,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters during the fourth quarter worth $2,954,000. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters during the fourth quarter worth $13,461,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Thomson Reuters by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 16,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,383,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 17.31% of the company’s stock.

Thomson Reuters Stock Up 1.1 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $74.35 billion, a PE ratio of 31.38, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.65.

About Thomson Reuters

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.