Brandes Investment Partners LP Acquires New Position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Brandes Investment Partners LP bought a new position in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 3,783 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 5,981,271 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of TransUnion in the 4th quarter valued at $90,682,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,744,770 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $326,013,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035,634 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of TransUnion by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,923,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $353,472,000 after purchasing an additional 942,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in TransUnion by 531.4% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 353,109 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,262,000 after buying an additional 297,180 shares during the period.

TransUnion Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TRU traded up $0.65 on Wednesday, reaching $77.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 233,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,657,950. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -53.57, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $76.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.47. TransUnion has a 52-week low of $42.09 and a 52-week high of $82.75.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.12. TransUnion had a negative net margin of 7.02% and a positive return on equity of 14.26%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $977.62 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. TransUnion’s payout ratio is currently -29.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of TransUnion from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of TransUnion from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of TransUnion from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on TransUnion from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of TransUnion in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Richard Dane Mauldin sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.10, for a total value of $117,150.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,720,777.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Richard Dane Mauldin sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.10, for a total value of $117,150.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,720,777.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy J. Martin sold 12,000 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.59, for a total value of $943,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 54,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,284,883.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,275 shares of company stock valued at $1,204,538. 0.28% of the stock is 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.