TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Stock Has Average Price Target of $90.69

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately positive: Sixteen brokerages give TransUnion a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, with ten buys and six holds. The average 12-month price target is $90.69, above the reported $76.74 share price.
• TransUnion exceeded quarterly earnings expectations: The company reported EPS of $1.25 versus the $1.21 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $1.31 billion and rose 12.2% year over year.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.135 per share from $0.125, equivalent to an annualized dividend of $0.54 and a 0.7% yield.

Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $90.69.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on TransUnion from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered TransUnion from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on TransUnion from $102.00 to $96.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded TransUnion from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on TransUnion from $85.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 2nd.

TransUnion Stock Up 1.7%

TRU stock opened at $76.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. TransUnion has a fifty-two week low of $60.96 and a fifty-two week high of $89.12. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $74.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.26. The stock has a market cap of $14.63 billion, a PE ratio of 18.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.58.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.04. TransUnion had a net margin of 15.83% and a return on equity of 16.51%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. TransUnion's revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that TransUnion will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.1350 per share. This is an increase from TransUnion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.1250. This represents a $0.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. TransUnion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other TransUnion news, EVP Mohamed Abdelsadek sold 397 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $29,775.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 52,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,921,300. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Todd C. Skinner sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.29, for a total value of $62,290.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 54,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,411,249.56. The trade was a 1.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,377 shares of company stock valued at $3,200,570. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of TransUnion

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TRU. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of TransUnion during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,367,560,000. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its stake in shares of TransUnion by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 4,044,338 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $247,190,000 after purchasing an additional 689,649 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of TransUnion in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $280,292,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,740,326 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $258,794,000 after purchasing an additional 293,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Group LP bought a new stake in shares of TransUnion in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $263,751,000.

TransUnion Company Profile

TransUnion NYSE: TRU is a global information and insights company that helps businesses and consumers make more informed decisions. The company collects, analyzes and delivers data related to credit, identity, fraud and consumer behavior, serving customers across financial services, insurance, healthcare, retail, telecommunications and other industries.

Its products and services include consumer credit reports and scores, credit-risk assessment, marketing and audience insights, identity verification, fraud detection, investigative tools and decisioning software.

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