Stifel Financial Corp Has $5.92 Million Position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,856 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,376 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $5,920,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of TransUnion by 330.8% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 3,192 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in TransUnion by 109.6% during the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 12,465 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 6,519 shares during the period. Natixis bought a new position in TransUnion during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,538,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in TransUnion by 261.9% during the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 18,935 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,755,000 after purchasing an additional 13,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Inc. CA lifted its position in shares of TransUnion by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 49,567 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,595,000 after purchasing an additional 19,032 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on TRU shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of TransUnion from $120.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America began coverage on TransUnion in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on TransUnion from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, TransUnion presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.38.

Insider Transactions at TransUnion

In other TransUnion news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.31, for a total value of $83,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 77,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,447,610.83. This represents a 1.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total transaction of $174,342.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,095,112.82. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,021 shares of company stock worth $372,751 in the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

TransUnion Trading Up 1.1 %

TRU opened at $82.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.10 billion, a PE ratio of 56.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67. 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 fifty-two week low of $66.38 and a fifty-two week high of $113.17. The company’s 50-day moving average is $81.99 and its 200 day moving average is $92.65.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.07. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. This is an increase from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. TransUnion’s payout ratio is currently 24.47%.

TransUnion announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors 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.