Victory Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,728,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,750 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $252,913,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRU. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in shares of TransUnion by 84.5% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 286 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of TransUnion by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 428 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransUnion during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of TransUnion by 4,590.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransUnion during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000.

TransUnion Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of TRU opened at $88.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $94.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 1.70. The company has a market capitalization of $17.17 billion, a PE ratio of 60.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.63. TransUnion has a fifty-two week low of $66.07 and a fifty-two week high of $113.17.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This is a boost from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. TransUnion’s payout ratio is currently 31.51%.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 58,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,611,923.60. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total transaction of $174,342.54. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,095,112.82. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $383,041 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TRU shares. Oppenheimer reduced 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, TransUnion presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.64.

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.