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 Friday,RTT News reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $103.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $104.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.64.

TransUnion Stock Performance

Shares of TransUnion stock opened at $99.79 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.77, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.63. TransUnion has a 12 month low of $66.07 and a 12 month high of $113.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last announced 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 business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a net margin of 5.47% and a return on equity of 15.38%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This is an increase from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion’s payout ratio is 36.52%.

TransUnion declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 13th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at TransUnion

In related news, Director George M. Awad sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $1,200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,600. The trade was a 30.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total transaction of $95,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,611,923.60. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,590 shares of company stock valued at $1,854,218 in the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRU. FMR LLC raised its stake in TransUnion by 307.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,540,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $475,432,000 after purchasing an additional 3,427,199 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of TransUnion by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,180,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,008,205,000 after acquiring an additional 2,840,800 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of TransUnion by 52.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,749,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $625,779,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,339 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of TransUnion during the 4th quarter valued at about $180,011,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in shares of TransUnion during the 3rd quarter valued at about $92,661,000.

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.