TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) to Repurchase $500.00 million in Outstanding Shares

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 13th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

TransUnion Stock Performance

Shares of TRU stock opened at $99.79 on Friday. TransUnion has a one year low of $66.07 and a one year high of $113.17. 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 50 day moving average price of $95.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.77, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.14). TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 5.47%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. This is a positive change from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TRU has been the topic of several recent research reports. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of TransUnion from $103.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $121.00 price objective on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.64.

Insider Transactions at TransUnion

In other news, Director George M. Awad sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,702,600. This represents a 30.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $151,095.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,092,956.24. The trade was a 2.42 % decrease in their position. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.