TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.12 Per Share

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This is a boost from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11.

TransUnion has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.3% annually over the last three years. TransUnion has a payout ratio of 8.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research 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 Down 0.5 %

TRU stock opened at $99.79 on Friday. TransUnion has a fifty-two week low of $66.07 and a fifty-two week high of $113.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $95.13 and a 200-day moving average of $97.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. The company has a market capitalization of $19.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.77, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.63.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other TransUnion news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total transaction of $93,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 59,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,568,076.80. The trade was a 1.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director George M. Awad sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $1,200,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,600. The trade was a 30.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,590 shares of company stock worth $1,854,218 in the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

TransUnion declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on TransUnion from $103.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on TransUnion from $104.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $121.00 price objective on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.