TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Given Outperform Rating at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $121.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $103.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on TransUnion from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays increased their price objective on TransUnion from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on TransUnion from $118.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on TransUnion from $104.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.53.

TransUnion Stock Down 2.9 %

NYSE:TRU opened at $103.59 on Thursday. TransUnion has a 1 year low of $42.09 and a 1 year high of $113.17. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $101.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.80. The stock has a market cap of $20.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -72.44, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. TransUnion had a positive return on equity of 15.03% and a negative net margin of 6.11%. TransUnion’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion Dividend Announcement

The company 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 was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. TransUnion’s payout ratio is -29.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other TransUnion news, EVP Timothy J. Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.59, for a total value of $261,475.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,739 shares in the company, valued at $4,888,432.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other TransUnion news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.65, for a total transaction of $95,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 64,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,168,277.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy J. Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.59, for a total transaction of $261,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 46,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,888,432.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,715 shares of company stock worth $1,299,729. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of TransUnion

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TRU. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in TransUnion by 32.2% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 16,339,762 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,211,757,000 after acquiring an additional 3,977,595 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of TransUnion by 51.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,755,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $539,108,000 after purchasing an additional 2,306,596 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in TransUnion by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,316,891 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $424,288,000 after purchasing an additional 572,121 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Group LP boosted its stake in TransUnion by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 5,147,510 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $410,771,000 after purchasing an additional 117,086 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in TransUnion by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,566,864 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $364,436,000 after buying an additional 102,841 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.