TransUnion’s (TRU) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at William Blair

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at William Blair in a research note issued on Monday,RTT News reports.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, TransUnion has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.64.

TransUnion Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TRU opened at $87.64 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $17.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. TransUnion has a 12 month low of $66.07 and a 12 month high of $113.17. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $92.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.40.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total transaction of $174,342.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,095,112.82. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total transaction of $93,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $383,041. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TRU. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 23,095 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,418,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of TransUnion by 45.5% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,204 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of TransUnion by 2.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 677,692 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $70,954,000 after acquiring an additional 16,445 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 61.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its position in TransUnion by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 102,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,710,000 after purchasing an additional 3,299 shares in the last quarter.

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.