Thomson Reuters Corp

I originally bought this stock (TSX-TRI, NYSE-TRI) in 1985. The stock I bought was Thomson. Since that time, I have earned a total return of 7.6% per year. Over the past 5 and 10 years, I have not earned much from this stock. This is an international stock and over the past 10 years has not done well in Canadian Terms. It was doing better coming into 2008, but has suffered in this recession.

This company’s reporting currency is US$ and it has done better in US$ terms, but even here the returns have been mediocre. For example, the US$ 5 and 10 year growth in Revenue is 9.9% and 8.5% per year respectively. The CDN$ 5 and 10 year growth in Revenue is just 7% and 4.9% respectively. However, the problem is when you look at revenue per share and these growth figures come down. The US$ 5 and 10 year Revenue growth per share is just 4.9% and 5.4% respectively. The Canadian ones are quite low at a 5 and 10 year growth of just 2% for each period.

You get the same sort of problem looking at dividend growth. The US$ dividend growth is quite good for the 5 and 10 year periods at 8.2% and 5.5% per year. In Canadian dollars, this comes in quite a bit lower for the last 5 and 10 years at 4.6% and 2.4% respectively. When you look at total returns, in Canadian currency you have barely broke even. In US terms, the 10 year total return is just under 5%, with the 5 year return just over 1%. At least this has not been a big loss. I guess the good thing is that the stock price has made some headway this year.

For this stock, the growth in cash flow, in Canadian terms is not great. The best growth in Canadian $ terms is for the Book Value, which over the past 5 and 10 years has grown 6% and 5.7% per year, respectively.

When looking at the Liquidity Ratio it is quite low at 0.78, but they have enough cash flow to pay short term debt. The Asset/Liability Ratio has always been strong and it is currently at 2.27, a very good ratio. Also, moving on to the Return on Equity, I find that the ones for 2008 and 2009 are low at 7% and 4.5%. The one for the first quarter of 2010 is even lower at 2.8%. However, the 5 year average for ROE is still above 10%.

Tomorrow, I will look at what the analysts are saying about this stock. I will also look at ratios that point to whether or not this stock is a good buy.

Thomson Reuters Corp is the leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. They combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision-makers. Through more than 50,000 people in over 100 countries, they deliver this must-have insight to the financial, legal, tax and accounting, healthcare and science and media markets, powered by the world’s most trusted news organization. They derive the majority of our revenues from selling electronic content and services to professionals, primarily on a subscription basis. Thomson and Reuters amalgamated in 2008. Its web site is here Thomson Reuters. See my spreadsheet at tri.htm

This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website for stocks followed and investment notes. Follow me on twitter.