Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) Shares Purchased by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its stake in Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Thomson Reuters were worth $3,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Thomson Reuters in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Thomson Reuters in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,506,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,819 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Thomson Reuters by 52.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,153,240 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,011,000 after buying an additional 395,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Thomson Reuters in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,127,000. 17.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Thomson Reuters Stock Performance

Shares of TRI stock opened at $170.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.02. Thomson Reuters Co. has a one year low of $149.50 and a one year high of $180.42. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $170.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.78, a PEG ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.70.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.04. Thomson Reuters had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 14.62%. Equities analysts anticipate that Thomson Reuters Co. will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a $0.595 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $2.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. This is a boost from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on TRI shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Thomson Reuters from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Thomson Reuters from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Thomson Reuters from $168.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Thomson Reuters from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Thomson Reuters from $175.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.56.

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.