Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Buys New Position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new stake in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,935 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $643,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of TRU. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in TransUnion by 84.5% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 286 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in TransUnion by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 428 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in TransUnion during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in TransUnion by 4,590.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in TransUnion during the 4th quarter valued at about $51,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.64.

Insider Transactions at TransUnion

In related news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $93,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 59,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,568,076.80. This represents a 1.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $383,041 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

TransUnion Price Performance

TRU stock opened at $89.59 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $94.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.58. TransUnion has a 12-month low of $66.07 and a 12-month high of $113.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $17.48 billion, a PE ratio of 61.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.63.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted 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 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a $0.115 dividend. This is an increase from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.51%.

TransUnion declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.