Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) Sees Large Volume Increase After Earnings Beat

Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) saw strong trading volume on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. 464,877 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 32% from the previous session’s volume of 353,153 shares.The stock last traded at $170.56 and had previously closed at $165.02.

The business services provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 15.22% and a net margin of 33.65%. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This is an increase from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. National Bank Financial raised Thomson Reuters from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Thomson Reuters from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Thomson Reuters from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Thomson Reuters from $163.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Thomson Reuters from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Thomson Reuters presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $176.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Thomson Reuters

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Thomson Reuters by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,739,858 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $894,442,000 after buying an additional 41,680 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 4,074,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $686,640,000 after purchasing an additional 26,483 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,684,883 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $458,559,000 after purchasing an additional 27,714 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 9.4% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,458,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $245,893,000 after purchasing an additional 125,167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Thomson Reuters by 26.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,325,695 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $223,525,000 after buying an additional 276,206 shares in the last quarter. 17.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Thomson Reuters Stock Up 1.3 %

The company has a market cap of $75.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $168.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

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.