Share Buyback Program Approved by TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 13th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on TRU shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on TransUnion from $104.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on TransUnion from $103.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $111.64.

TransUnion Price Performance

NYSE TRU traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $99.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,429,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,398,812. 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 has a 1 year low of $66.07 and a 1 year high of $113.17. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $95.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.96. The company has a market capitalization of $19.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.77, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.63.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.14). TransUnion had a net margin of 5.47% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other TransUnion news, insider Todd C. Skinner sold 3,090 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.48, for a total transaction of $313,573.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,469,312.84. The trade was a 11.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total value of $95,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,611,923.60. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,590 shares of company stock worth $1,854,218. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.