TransUnion's (TRU) "Hold" Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their hold rating on shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Free Report) in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on TRU. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on TransUnion from $103.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on TransUnion from $104.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $111.64.

TransUnion Price Performance

TRU stock traded down $2.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $97.25. 1,767,468 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,594,351. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.05. TransUnion has a 1-year low of $66.07 and a 1-year high of $113.17. The company has a market cap of $18.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.57, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last released 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). The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a net margin of 5.47% and a return on equity of 15.38%. On average, analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This is a positive change from TransUnion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. TransUnion's payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director George M. Awad sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $1,200,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,026 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,600. The trade was a 30.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Todd C. Skinner sold 3,090 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.48, for a total value of $313,573.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,469,312.84. This trade represents a 11.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,590 shares of company stock worth $1,854,218. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of TransUnion

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 84.5% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 286 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of TransUnion in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 4,590.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of TransUnion in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000.

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.