TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $92.00.

TRU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of TransUnion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on TransUnion from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on TransUnion from $96.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on TransUnion from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Heather J. Russell sold 7,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.53, for a total transaction of $523,533.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,884,132.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Heather J. Russell sold 7,120 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.53, for a total transaction of $523,533.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,884,132.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.27, for a total transaction of $74,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 70,547 shares in the company, valued at $5,239,525.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,200 shares of company stock worth $2,665,257 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRU. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in TransUnion by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 632,867 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,484,000 after acquiring an additional 8,859 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of TransUnion by 69.4% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 99,829 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,859,000 after purchasing an additional 40,893 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,291,391 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $88,735,000 after purchasing an additional 194,592 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of TransUnion by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 52,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,589,000 after purchasing an additional 3,336 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in TransUnion during the fourth quarter worth about $90,682,000.

TransUnion Stock Performance

Shares of TRU opened at $100.39 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. TransUnion has a 1 year low of $42.09 and a 1 year high of $100.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.51 billion, a PE ratio of -70.20, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.62.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.13. TransUnion had a negative net margin of 6.11% and a positive return on equity of 15.03%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Announces Dividend

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

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.