Dividend increase: Thomson Reuters

Article Excerpt

THOMSON REUTERS CORP. $68 (Toronto symbol TRI; Conservative Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares o/s: 505.0 million; Market cap: $34.3 billion; Divd yield: 2.7%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.thomsonreuters.com) recently sold 55% of its Financial & Risk (F&R) business to a consortium led by Blackstone Group LP (New York symbol BX). F&R sells specialized financial information products to banks and brokerages. Thomson now focuses on selling specialized information to professionals in the legal, and tax and accounting fields. It also owns the Reuters news service. The cash from the sale let the company raise its dividend in December 2018. Investors now receive $0.35 U.S. a share, up 1.4% from $0.345 U.S. The new annual rate of $1.40 U.S. yields 2.7%. Thomson Reuters is a buy. buy…