Equitable Trust Co. Increases Stake in Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI)

Equitable Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,226 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Thomson Reuters were worth $2,904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TRI. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in Thomson Reuters in the second quarter worth about $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Thomson Reuters by 76.9% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 184 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Thomson Reuters in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Thomson Reuters in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Thomson Reuters in the first quarter valued at approximately $78,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 17.31% of the company’s stock.

Thomson Reuters Trading Up 0.9 %

Thomson Reuters stock traded up $1.61 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $171.18. 244,961 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 373,351. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $162.35. Thomson Reuters Co. has a 12-month low of $117.46 and a 12-month high of $176.03. The firm has a market cap of $76.98 billion, a PE ratio of 32.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.10 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.75 billion. Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 15.22% and a net margin of 33.65%. Thomson Reuters’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. Research analysts expect that Thomson Reuters Co. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.146 per share. This represents a $0.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $163.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $170.00 to $168.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Thomson Reuters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $164.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Thomson Reuters currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $173.45.

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.