Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 46.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 120,888 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 105,883 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.06% of TransUnion worth $11,208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in TransUnion by 84.5% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 286 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in TransUnion in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in TransUnion by 4,590.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in TransUnion by 62.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 805 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter.

TransUnion Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE:TRU opened at $91.74 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $94.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.46. TransUnion has a 1 year low of $66.07 and a 1 year high of $113.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70.

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

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. This is a positive change from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. TransUnion’s payout ratio is 31.51%.

TransUnion announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, TransUnion presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransUnion

In other news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at $10,095,112.82. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $93,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 59,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,568,076.80. The trade was a 1.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,521 shares of company stock valued at $534,136 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.