TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Upgraded to Outperform at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $130.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on TransUnion from $96.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on TransUnion from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group began coverage on TransUnion in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a neutral rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut shares of TransUnion from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $98.71.

TransUnion Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TRU opened at $105.70 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $20.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -83.23, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.62. TransUnion has a twelve month low of $42.09 and a twelve month high of $108.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The company has a 50 day moving average of $97.68 and a 200 day moving average of $83.79.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.13. TransUnion had a positive return on equity of 15.03% and a negative net margin of 6.11%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -33.07%.

Insider Transactions at TransUnion

In related news, EVP Timothy J. Martin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.59, for a total transaction of $261,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,888,432.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other TransUnion news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.14, for a total transaction of $90,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 69,547 shares in the company, valued at $6,268,966.58. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Timothy J. Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.59, for a total value of $261,475.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,739 shares in the company, valued at $4,888,432.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,715 shares of company stock valued at $1,299,729. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransUnion

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TRU. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,910,715 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,230,645,000 after acquiring an additional 234,123 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 32.2% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 16,339,762 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,211,757,000 after purchasing an additional 3,977,595 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of TransUnion by 51.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,755,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $539,108,000 after purchasing an additional 2,306,596 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in TransUnion by 12.1% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,316,891 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $424,288,000 after buying an additional 572,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Group LP boosted its stake in TransUnion by 2.3% during the first quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 5,147,510 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $410,771,000 after buying an additional 117,086 shares during the period.

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.