TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Receives “Outperform” Rating from William Blair

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

Several other research firms have also weighed in on TRU. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.64.

TransUnion Price Performance

NYSE:TRU opened at $87.77 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $92.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.44. The firm has a market cap of $17.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.12, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 1.70. TransUnion has a one year low of $66.07 and a one year high of $113.17.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 EPS 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 return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. Research analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

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

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.115 dividend. This is an increase from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.51%.

Insider Activity at TransUnion

In other news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total transaction of $174,342.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total transaction of $95,950.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 58,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,611,923.60. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $383,041. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransUnion

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of TransUnion by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 700,518 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $64,945,000 after buying an additional 22,826 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in TransUnion by 307.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,540,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $475,432,000 after acquiring an additional 3,427,199 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in TransUnion in the third quarter valued at $892,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of TransUnion by 62.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $194,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 26,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,439,000 after purchasing an additional 4,743 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.