TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Receives $114.08 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $112.54.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on TransUnion from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other TransUnion news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,095,112.82. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.31, for a total transaction of $83,310.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 77,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,447,610.83. This trade represents a 1.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,021 shares of company stock worth $372,751 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRU. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of TransUnion by 3.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 22,826 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in TransUnion in the third quarter valued at about $892,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in TransUnion by 62.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $194,000 after acquiring an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in TransUnion by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 26,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,439,000 after acquiring an additional 4,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TT International Asset Management LTD lifted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 426.4% in the third quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD now owns 26,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,811,000 after acquiring an additional 21,752 shares during the last quarter.

TransUnion Trading Down 5.7 %

Shares of NYSE:TRU opened at $71.10 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.42. The firm has a market cap of $13.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.70, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. TransUnion has a 12 month low of $66.07 and a 12 month high of $113.17.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last released 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 firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. As a group, research analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion announced that its board has initiated a share 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 buy 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.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This is a boost from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.51%.

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.