Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume Following Earnings Beat

Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. Approximately 464,877 shares changed hands during mid-day 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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Thomson Reuters had a net margin of 33.65% and a return on equity of 15.22%. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. Thomson Reuters’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TRI. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 23.8% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,770 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,612,000 after purchasing an additional 3,223 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 874.0% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 130,744 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,351,000 after acquiring an additional 117,320 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS acquired a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters during the second quarter worth $278,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters during the first quarter worth $610,000. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden lifted its position in Thomson Reuters by 151.2% in the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 78,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,242,000 after acquiring an additional 47,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 17.31% of the company’s stock.

Thomson Reuters Stock Performance

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

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.