Guardian Partners Inc. Makes New Investment in Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI)

Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 20,912 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,338,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Thomson Reuters during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 361 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 17.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Thomson Reuters Stock Performance

NYSE:TRI opened at $170.01 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $76.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.77, a P/E/G ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.70. Thomson Reuters Co. has a fifty-two week low of $149.50 and a fifty-two week high of $180.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $170.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.83.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share 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%. Analysts expect that Thomson Reuters Co. will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thomson Reuters from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. CIBC increased their price target on shares of Thomson Reuters from $165.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Thomson Reuters from $168.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $177.56.

Thomson Reuters 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.