TransUnion’s (TRU) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at William Blair

William Blair reiterated their outperform rating on shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) in a research note released on Monday,RTT News reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on TRU. UBS Group boosted their target price on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TransUnion has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.08.

TransUnion Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TRU opened at $85.71 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market cap of $16.72 billion, a PE ratio of 58.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. The business has a fifty day moving average of $92.18 and a 200-day moving average of $97.32. TransUnion has a twelve month low of $66.07 and a twelve month high of $113.17.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. On average, equities research analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This is a positive change from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion’s payout ratio is 31.51%.

TransUnion announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransUnion

In related news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total transaction of $95,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 58,488 shares in the company, valued at $5,611,923.60. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were 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 approximately $10,095,112.82. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $383,041. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TransUnion

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TRU. 111 Capital bought a new stake in shares of TransUnion during the fourth quarter worth about $449,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of TransUnion by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742 shares during the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new stake in shares of TransUnion during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,581,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in TransUnion in the fourth quarter worth $6,915,000. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in shares of TransUnion by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,848 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 665 shares during the last quarter.

TransUnion Company Profile

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.