TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $107.06.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of TransUnion in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group initiated coverage on TransUnion in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of TransUnion from $97.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $122.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other TransUnion news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $151,095.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 60,488 shares in the company, valued at $6,092,956.24. This trade represents a 2.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director George M. Awad sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $1,200,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,026 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,600. This trade represents a 30.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 18,090 shares of company stock worth $1,823,158. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransUnion

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of TransUnion during the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in TransUnion by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $980,000 after buying an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in TransUnion by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 89,987 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,673,000 after buying an additional 2,713 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in TransUnion in the 2nd quarter worth about $348,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of TransUnion during the second quarter worth approximately $200,000.

TransUnion Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of TRU stock opened at $92.71 on Wednesday. TransUnion has a 52-week low of $63.03 and a 52-week high of $113.17. The business’s fifty day moving average is $99.61 and its 200 day moving average is $94.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. The company has a market capitalization of $18.07 billion, a PE ratio of 80.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.60.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. TransUnion had a net margin of 5.47% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.52%.

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.