Thomson Reuters (TSE:TRI) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Dividend Announcement

Thomson Reuters Co. (TSE:TRI) (NYSE:TRI)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as C$219.12 and last traded at C$218.23, with a volume of 133007 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$208.41.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This is a boost from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio is 37.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TRI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Thomson Reuters from C$149.00 to C$153.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. CIBC lifted their price objective on Thomson Reuters from C$138.00 to C$146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. National Bankshares upped their target price on Thomson Reuters from C$217.00 to C$219.00 in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Thomson Reuters from C$211.00 to C$222.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Thomson Reuters from C$225.00 to C$230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$183.33.

Thomson Reuters Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is C$211.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$198.08. The company has a market capitalization of C$101.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.01, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Thomson Reuters (TSE:TRI) (NYSE:TRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported C$1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.25 by C$0.09. Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 23.06% and a net margin of 39.67%. The business had revenue of C$2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$2.52 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Thomson Reuters Co. will post 4.9537409 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Senior Officer David Franklin Wong sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$158.99, for a total transaction of C$95,392.80. In other news, Director Linda Walker sold 4,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$156.75, for a total transaction of C$744,562.50. Also, Senior Officer David Franklin Wong sold 600 shares of Thomson Reuters stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$158.99, for a total value of C$95,392.80. Company insiders own 69.49% of the company’s stock.

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.