TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.12

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of 0.115 per share by the business services provider on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. This is a boost from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11.

TransUnion has increased its dividend by an average of 5.3% annually over the last three years. TransUnion has a dividend payout ratio of 8.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect TransUnion to earn $3.99 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.42 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 10.5%.

TransUnion Stock Up 7.3 %

TRU stock opened at $100.32 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.24, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. TransUnion has a 12 month low of $66.07 and a 12 month high of $113.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $95.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.75.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.14). TransUnion had a net margin of 5.47% and a return on equity of 15.38%. As a group, analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on TRU shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of TransUnion from $103.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, TransUnion presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total value of $95,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,611,923.60. This trade represents a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director George M. Awad sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $1,200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,600. This trade represents a 30.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,590 shares of company stock valued at $1,854,218 over the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.