TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $110.64.

TRU has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of TransUnion from $120.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of TransUnion from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of TransUnion to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on TransUnion from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th.

TransUnion Price Performance

TRU stock traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $91.32. The stock had a trading volume of 2,838,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,828,402. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $87.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $17.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.63. TransUnion has a 52-week low of $66.38 and a 52-week high of $113.17.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.07 billion. TransUnion had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 16.18%. TransUnion's revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 22nd. TransUnion's payout ratio is currently 24.47%.

Insider Transactions at TransUnion

In other news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.14, for a total transaction of $87,140.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 74,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,482,606.02. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,000 shares of company stock worth $255,010. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TransUnion

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in TransUnion by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 10,311 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $956,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,642 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of TransUnion by 2.2% in the second quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,193 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $633,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 1.4% during the first quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 11,380 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $944,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 58.7% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 454 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter.

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.