Bank of America Begins Coverage on TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Investment analysts at Bank of America began coverage on shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) in a research note issued on Thursday. The brokerage set an “underperform” rating and a $84.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 3.72% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on TRU. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Monday, March 24th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group lifted 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on TransUnion from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, TransUnion has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.92.

TransUnion Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TRU opened at $80.99 on Thursday. 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 50-day moving average price of $87.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.47. The company has a market cap of $15.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion declared that its Board of Directors 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 generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at $10,095,112.82. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total transaction of $95,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransUnion

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of TRU. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in TransUnion by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 428 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of TransUnion in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Huntington National Bank grew its stake 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 buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in TransUnion in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in TransUnion during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000.

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.