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

William Blair reiterated their outperform rating on shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) in a report published on Friday,RTT News reports.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on TRU. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective on shares of TransUnion in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $103.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.64.

TransUnion Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of TransUnion stock opened at $99.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.45 billion, a PE ratio of 86.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.63. TransUnion has a twelve month low of $66.07 and a twelve month high of $113.17. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $95.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a net margin of 5.47% and a return on equity of 15.38%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This is an increase from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.52%.

TransUnion declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director George M. Awad sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $1,200,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,702,600. This trade represents a 30.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total transaction of $93,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,568,076.80. This trade represents a 1.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,590 shares of company stock worth $1,854,218. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of TransUnion

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in TransUnion by 84.5% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 286 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in TransUnion by 82.1% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in TransUnion during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in TransUnion by 4,590.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in TransUnion during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000.

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.