TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $109.38.

TRU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on TransUnion from $120.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on TransUnion from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on TransUnion from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th.

TransUnion Price Performance

TRU opened at $81.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $82.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. TransUnion has a 1 year low of $66.38 and a 1 year high of $113.17. The stock has a market cap of $15.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.96, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.07. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, February 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This is a boost from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.47%.

Insider Transactions at TransUnion

In related news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total transaction 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 $10,095,112.82. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.31, for a total value of $83,310.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 77,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,447,610.83. This represents a 1.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $372,751. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TransUnion

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