TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Hits New 1-Year High at $104.39

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $104.39 and last traded at $103.97, with a volume of 90014 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $101.14.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on TransUnion in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised TransUnion to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on TransUnion from $85.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on TransUnion from $90.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC downgraded TransUnion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, TransUnion presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.00.

TransUnion Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $20.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -70.73, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a 50 day moving average of $90.00 and a 200 day moving average of $80.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. TransUnion had a positive return on equity of 15.03% and a negative net margin of 6.11%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. TransUnion’s payout ratio is currently -29.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.65, for a total value of $95,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 64,488 shares in the company, valued at $6,168,277.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Todd M. Cello sold 12,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $1,029,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 101,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,114,080. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.65, for a total transaction of $95,650.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 64,488 shares in the company, valued at $6,168,277.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,200 shares of company stock worth $2,665,257 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransUnion

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in TransUnion by 237.5% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 486 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in TransUnion by 963.0% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 574 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in TransUnion by 32.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 573 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in TransUnion by 22.3% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 910 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in TransUnion by 156.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 857 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 523 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.