TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Receives $109.69 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $109.69.

A number of research analysts have commented on TRU shares. Barclays cut their price target on shares of TransUnion from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of TransUnion from $120.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th.

TransUnion Trading Down 0.8%

TRU stock traded down $0.67 during trading on Friday, reaching $85.29. 1,781,031 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,707,723. TransUnion has a 52-week low of $66.38 and a 52-week high of $113.17. The business's 50 day moving average price is $81.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.64 billion, a PE ratio of 58.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

TransUnion Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. TransUnion's payout ratio is 24.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransUnion

In related news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.31, for a total value of $83,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 77,393 shares in the company, valued at $6,447,610.83. This trade represents a 1.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of TransUnion

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of TransUnion by 10.9% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 21,674,473 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,798,765,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,342 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of TransUnion by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,264,902 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,515,804,000 after buying an additional 198,245 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of TransUnion by 61.2% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,877,953 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $902,761,000 after purchasing an additional 4,128,104 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in TransUnion by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,139,607 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $476,493,000 after buying an additional 356,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in TransUnion by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,044,865 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $467,709,000 after buying an additional 503,969 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.