Thomson Reuters (NASDAQ:TRI) Stock Gets Downgrade from Zacks Research

Thomson Reuters (NASDAQ:TRI) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Thomson Reuters from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 7th. Scotia decreased their target price on Thomson Reuters from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Thomson Reuters from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, November 9th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Thomson Reuters in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Thomson Reuters from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.96.

Thomson Reuters Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of TRI stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $109.30. 1,380,309 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,895,142. Thomson Reuters has a fifty-two week low of $76.28 and a fifty-two week high of $142.04. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $47.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.52, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.69.

Thomson Reuters (NASDAQ:TRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by ($0.08). Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 20.02%. The business had revenue of $1.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Thomson Reuters will post 4.20 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, November 11th that authorizes the company to buy back $500 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Thomson Reuters

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Alliance LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters during the 3rd quarter valued at about $215,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in Thomson Reuters by 45.1% during the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 342,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,376,000 after acquiring an additional 106,623 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 158,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,473,000 after acquiring an additional 4,530 shares during the period. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 48.5% in the third quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 3,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters during the third quarter valued at about $1,207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 17.31% of the company’s stock.

About Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters is a global provider of information, software and services for legal, tax, accounting, compliance, risk and financial professionals. Its products help customers research complex issues, manage workflows and make informed decisions. Key offerings include Westlaw and Practical Law for legal research and practice management, Checkpoint for tax and accounting research, and ONESOURCE for tax and trade compliance. The company also provides news and information through Reuters, its global news organization.