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

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $92.00.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on TRU shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Bank of America raised shares of TransUnion from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on TransUnion from $85.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on TransUnion from $96.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday.

TransUnion Price Performance

NYSE:TRU opened at $100.39 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. TransUnion has a 52 week low of $42.09 and a 52 week high of $100.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $88.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.51 billion, a PE ratio of -70.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.62.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. TransUnion had a positive return on equity of 15.03% and a negative net margin of 6.11%. TransUnion’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. TransUnion’s payout ratio is currently -29.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Heather J. Russell sold 7,120 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.53, for a total value of $523,533.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,884,132.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other TransUnion news, EVP Heather J. Russell sold 7,120 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.53, for a total value of $523,533.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,624 shares in the company, valued at $1,884,132.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy J. Martin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.65, for a total value of $239,125.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 49,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,709,710.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,200 shares of company stock valued at $2,665,257 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransUnion

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in TransUnion in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,008,000. Next Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of TransUnion in the second quarter valued at approximately $422,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its stake in TransUnion by 32.4% during the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 8,110 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $601,000 after buying an additional 1,984 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in TransUnion by 963.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 574 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its position in TransUnion by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 975 shares during the period.

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.