TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Price Target Cut to $112.00 by Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) had its target price reduced by Stifel Nicolaus from $120.00 to $112.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on TRU. Bank of America began coverage on TransUnion in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $84.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on TransUnion from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, TransUnion presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.38.

TransUnion Trading Down 0.4 %

TRU stock opened at $82.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. TransUnion has a 52-week low of $66.38 and a 52-week high of $113.17. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.89. The firm has a market cap of $16.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.25, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.14). TransUnion had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.115 dividend. This is an increase from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. TransUnion’s payout ratio is presently 24.47%.

TransUnion declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 13th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other TransUnion news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.31, for a total value of $83,310.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 77,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,447,610.83. The trade was a 1.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,095,112.82. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $372,751 in the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in TransUnion during the 3rd quarter valued at $444,000. American Trust acquired a new position in TransUnion in the 3rd quarter valued at about $242,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of TransUnion by 1,428.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 226,771 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $23,743,000 after buying an additional 211,934 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in TransUnion by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 428 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in TransUnion by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter.

About TransUnion

TransUnion operates as a global consumer credit reporting agency that provides risk and information solutions. The company operates through U.S. Markets, International, and Consumer Interactive segments. The U.S. Markets segment provides consumer reports, actionable insights, and analytic services to businesses, which uses its services to acquire new customers; assess consumer ability to pay for services; identify cross-selling opportunities; measure and manage debt portfolio risk; collect debt; verify consumer identities; and mitigate fraud risk.