Media stocks will recover from downturn

Article Excerpt

The credit crisis and recession weighed heavily on these three information providers. They have also been hurt by competition from free information on the Internet. All three have cut their costs in response. That puts them in a good position to increase their earnings as the economy rebounds and advertising revenues grow again. As well, all are leaders in their niche industries and regions. That gives them an advantage over their competitors. We continue to see all three companies as buys for long-term gains. THOMSON REUTERS CORP. $34 (Toronto symbol TRI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 829.7 million; Market cap: $28.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 3.5%; SI Rating: Above Average) has two main divisions: Markets accounts for 60% of revenue, and sells financial-information products to banks and other financial institutions. Professional (40% of revenue) sells specialized information to professionals in the legal, accounting, scientific and health-care fields. The company gets about 60% of its revenue from the Americas, followed…