Swiss National Bank Cuts Stock Position in Thomson Reuters Co. $TRI

Swiss National Bank lowered its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) by 5.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 453,655 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 25,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.10% of Thomson Reuters worth $70,473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its position in Thomson Reuters by 186.8% during the 3rd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 870,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $135,592,000 after acquiring an additional 566,908 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Thomson Reuters during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,485,000. Profund Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Thomson Reuters during the 3rd quarter worth $5,061,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Thomson Reuters in the 3rd quarter worth $4,015,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. acquired a new position in Thomson Reuters in the 3rd quarter worth $10,117,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 17.31% of the company’s stock.

Thomson Reuters Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of TRI stock opened at $103.11 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business’s fifty day moving average is $107.64 and its 200-day moving average is $135.32. Thomson Reuters Co. has a 1 year low of $79.71 and a 1 year high of $218.42. The stock has a market cap of $45.89 billion, a PE ratio of 21.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.81.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. Thomson Reuters had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 14.62%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Thomson Reuters Co. will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.655 per share. This is an increase from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and set a $156.00 price objective (down from $189.00) on shares of Thomson Reuters in a research note on Friday, February 6th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Thomson Reuters in a research note on Friday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $111.00 price objective on shares of Thomson Reuters and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of Thomson Reuters from $174.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Thomson Reuters from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $126.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.42.

Thomson Reuters Company Profile

Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI) is a multinational information and media company that provides content, technology and services to professionals in the legal, tax & accounting, compliance, risk, corporate and media sectors. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, the company combines news and editorial content from the Reuters news agency with specialist workflow platforms and databases designed to support decision-making and regulatory compliance across industries worldwide.

The company’s product portfolio spans legal research and workflow tools, tax and accounting software, regulatory and risk management solutions, and real-time news and data services.