Three media stocks for long-term gains

Article Excerpt

Media companies continue to face a number of challenges, including the slowing economy, which is hurting advertising revenue, and the explosion of free information available on the Internet. However, we feel high-quality information providers like these three will adapt and thrive. All three are market leaders, and they own some the industry’s best-known brands. What’s more, they are building strong Internet businesses of their own, and doing a good job of controlling their costs. These moves will help them increase their earnings, and give them more cash for dividends. THOMSON REUTERS CORP. $29 (Toronto symbol TRI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 836.8 million; Market cap: $24.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 4.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.thomsonreuters.com) has two main divisions: Markets (which supplied 57% of Thomson Reuters’ 2010 revenue and 48% of its earnings), sells news and information products to banks and other financial institutions. Professional (43%, 52%) sells information to professionals in the legal, taxation, accounting and…