TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Price Target Lowered to $85.00 at Barclays

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) had its target price decreased by Barclays from $105.00 to $85.00 in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

TRU has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.54.

TransUnion Trading Down 5.7 %

Shares of TRU stock opened at $71.10 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70. TransUnion has a 1-year low of $66.07 and a 1-year high of $113.17. The firm has a market cap of $13.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.70, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.14). TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.115 dividend. This is a boost from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.51%.

TransUnion declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at TransUnion

In related news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,095,112.82. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total transaction of $95,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,611,923.60. This represents a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $372,751. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransUnion

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in TransUnion by 82.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 428 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of TransUnion in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 58.7% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 454 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransUnion during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in TransUnion during the fourth quarter worth $47,000.

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.