TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $109.69.

Several brokerages recently commented on TRU. UBS Group raised their target price on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America started coverage on TransUnion in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on TransUnion from $120.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, 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.

TransUnion Stock Performance

NYSE TRU opened at $83.17 on Friday. TransUnion has a 1-year low of $66.38 and a 1-year high of $113.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $81.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.56. The company has a market capitalization of $16.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.97, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67.

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

TransUnion Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.47%.

TransUnion declared that its board has authorized 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 reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at TransUnion

In other news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,095,112.82. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total value of $82,960.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,393 shares in the company, valued at $6,337,563.28. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $359,761 over the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in TransUnion during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $292,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of TransUnion by 293.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,602 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,632,000 after buying an additional 13,123 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,359 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $497,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of TransUnion by 40.4% in the 4th quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $454,000 after purchasing an additional 1,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toth Financial Advisory Corp grew its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 76,396 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,083,000 after purchasing an additional 6,741 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.