TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $97.00 to $109.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. TransUnion traded as high as $106.68 and last traded at $106.58, with a volume of 1112303 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $105.90.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on TRU. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $90.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $96.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $85.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other TransUnion news, EVP Timothy J. Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.59, for a total value of $261,475.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,888,432.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Timothy J. Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.59, for a total value of $261,475.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,888,432.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.14, for a total transaction of $90,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 69,547 shares in the company, valued at $6,268,966.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,580 shares of company stock worth $2,328,929. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TransUnion

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRU. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of TransUnion by 237.5% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 486 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of TransUnion by 963.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 574 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of TransUnion by 32.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 573 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of TransUnion by 22.3% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 910 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of TransUnion by 156.6% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 857 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the last quarter.

TransUnion Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $95.09 and its 200 day moving average is $82.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.71 billion, a PE ratio of -74.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.62.

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

TransUnion Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is currently -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.