Selling LSE stake will fuel dividend

Article Excerpt

THOMSON REUTERS CORP. $141 remains a buy. The company (Toronto symbol TRI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 497.1 million; Market cap: $70.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 9.7; Dividend yield: 1.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.thomsonreuters.com) sells specialized information and software to the legal, tax and accounting fields. In January 2021, Thomson and Blackstone Group merged their Refinitiv financial information business with LSE—the London Stock Exchange Group plc (Over-the-counter Pink Sheets symbol LDNXF). As of October 31, 2021, Thomson’s stake in LSE was worth $7.1 billion U.S. The company plans to sell these shares (in tranches) over the next few years. It will likely use that cash for dividend hikes and share buybacks. The current annual dividend rate of $1.62 U.S. a share yields 1.4%. Thomson Reuters is a buy. buy. …