Evercore ISI Increases TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Price Target to $80.00

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) had its price target hoisted by Evercore ISI from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an in-line rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of TransUnion from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of TransUnion from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of TransUnion from $63.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, TransUnion presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $77.80.

TransUnion Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of TransUnion stock opened at $79.80 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.96. The company has a market cap of $15.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -53.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.61. TransUnion has a fifty-two week low of $42.09 and a fifty-two week high of $82.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 1.47.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $954.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $927.04 million. TransUnion had a negative net margin of 7.50% and a positive return on equity of 13.58%. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. TransUnion’s payout ratio is -28.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransUnion

In other news, EVP Timothy J. Martin sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.59, for a total value of $943,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 54,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,284,883.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Timothy J. Martin sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.59, for a total value of $943,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 54,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,284,883.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Richard Dane Mauldin sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.10, for a total transaction of $117,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,720,777.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransUnion

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TRU. Capital International Investors purchased a new position in shares of TransUnion during the 4th quarter worth approximately $663,001,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of TransUnion by 570.4% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,029,897 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $483,024,000 after purchasing an additional 5,981,271 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of TransUnion during the 4th quarter worth approximately $119,620,000. Meritage Group LP boosted its position in shares of TransUnion by 56.5% during the 4th quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 5,030,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $345,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,815,540 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of TransUnion by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,668,211 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $718,921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,564 shares during the period.

About TransUnion

TransUnion operates as a global consumer credit reporting agency that provides risk and information solutions. The company operates in three segments: U.S. Markets, International, and Consumer Interactive. 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.