TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Declares $0.12 Quarterly Dividend

Key Points

• TransUnion announced a quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share, with payment set for September 8th to shareholders of record on August 22nd, implying a 0.5% yield.
• The company reported a strong quarterly earnings performance, with an EPS of $1.08 for Q2, exceeding expectations, and a revenue increase of 9.5% year-over-year.
• TransUnion maintained a low dividend payout ratio of 9.7%, indicating it can sustainably support its dividends with forecasted earnings growth.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, August 8th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of 0.115 per share by the business services provider on Monday, September 8th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%.

TransUnion has a payout ratio of 9.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect TransUnion to earn $4.81 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.46 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 9.6%.

TransUnion Stock Performance

Shares of TRU stock traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $90.26. The company had a trading volume of 1,688,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,174,987. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $90.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.82. TransUnion has a 52-week low of $66.38 and a 52-week high of $113.17. The stock has a market cap of $17.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.13, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 2.02.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. TransUnion had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 16.08%. TransUnion's quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Jennifer A. Williams sold 972 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.89, for a total value of $90,289.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $660,262.12. This trade represents a 12.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.14, for a total value of $87,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 74,393 shares in the company, valued at $6,482,606.02. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,972 shares of company stock worth $262,339. Insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransUnion

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of TRU. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in TransUnion by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 233,116 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $21,612,000 after buying an additional 42,703 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in TransUnion by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 470,370 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $43,608,000 after purchasing an additional 90,443 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in TransUnion by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 541,978 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $50,247,000 after purchasing an additional 15,368 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in TransUnion by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 176,416 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $16,356,000 after purchasing an additional 4,226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in TransUnion in the 4th quarter valued at $16,002,000.

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.