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

Shares of Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) saw strong trading volume on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. 725,936 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 133% from the previous session’s volume of 311,855 shares.The stock last traded at $164.60 and had previously closed at $151.48.

The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 34.87%. Thomson Reuters’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share.

Thomson Reuters Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. CIBC raised their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $152.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Thomson Reuters from $149.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. TD Securities upped their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Thomson Reuters from $152.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Thomson Reuters from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Thomson Reuters currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.31.

Institutional Trading of Thomson Reuters

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TRI. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Thomson Reuters during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 162.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 241 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 17.31% of the company’s stock.

Thomson Reuters Trading Up 1.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $74.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $155.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $146.37.

Thomson Reuters Company Profile

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.