Steven M. Chaouki Sells 1,000 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Stock

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.31, for a total value of $83,310.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 77,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,447,610.83. This trade represents a 1.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

TransUnion Price Performance

NYSE:TRU opened at $71.10 on Friday. TransUnion has a 12-month low of $66.07 and a 12-month high of $113.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $90.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.14). TransUnion had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 buy up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.115 dividend. This is a boost from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransUnion

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in TransUnion by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 10,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of TransUnion in the third quarter valued at about $892,000. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of TransUnion by 923.2% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 32,762 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,430,000 after acquiring an additional 29,560 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in shares of TransUnion in the third quarter valued at about $676,000. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new position in TransUnion during the third quarter worth about $357,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on TRU. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of TransUnion from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, TransUnion presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.54.

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.