Topic: Dividend Stocks

THOMSON REUTERS CORP. $28 – Toronto symbol TRI

THOMSON REUTERS CORP. $28 (Toronto symbol TRI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 825.9 million; Market cap: $23.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 4.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.thomsonreuters.com) gets 56% of its revenue and 45% of its earnings by selling news and information to professionals in the banking industry. It also sells specialized information products to clients in the legal, accounting and scientific-research fields.

Slow economic growth and tighter regulations are prompting banks and brokerage firms to cut their spending on information products. Thomson Reuters is also spending more to improve the performance of, and add new features to, its Eikon desktop computer terminals, which deliver news and financial data to traders and portfolio managers.

As a result, the company’s earnings fell 1.8% in the three months ended September 30, 2012, to $445 million from $453 million a year earlier (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share were unchanged at $0.54.

Revenue fell 1.0%, to $3.17 billion from $3.20 billion. If you exclude the negative impact of currency exchange rates, revenue would have gained 1%.

Thomson Reuters has installed over 25,600 Eikon desktops, up 35% from three months earlier. Even so, overall revenue on a constant-currency basis from financial products was flat. However, the company’s other divisions continue to post strong sales: revenue rose 2% at the legal business, 10% at accounting and 3% at scientific.

Over 85% of the company’s sales come from products it sells under subscriptions and contracts.That gives it predictable revenue streams and cuts its risk. As well, more of its customers are switching from printed to electronic products; that’s lowering its printing and postage costs.

Thomson Reuters’ balance sheet remains strong. Its long-term debt of $6.3 billion is a moderate 27% of its market cap, and it holds cash of $769 million, or $0.93 a share.

The stock trades at 13.9 times the $2.01 a share that the company should earn in 2012. The $1.28 dividend yields 4.6%.

Thomson Reuters is a buy.

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