Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,576 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,063 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $7,748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRU. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of TransUnion by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 700,518 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $64,945,000 after purchasing an additional 22,826 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 307.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,540,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $475,432,000 after acquiring an additional 3,427,199 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of TransUnion during the third quarter valued at $892,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in TransUnion by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in TransUnion by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 26,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,439,000 after purchasing an additional 4,743 shares during the last quarter.

TransUnion Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE TRU opened at $85.41 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.50, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 1.70. TransUnion has a one year low of $66.07 and a one year high of $113.17. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $92.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.50.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.115 dividend. This is an increase from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.51%.

TransUnion declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 13th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on TRU shares. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group increased their price target on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, TransUnion has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.64.

Insider Transactions at TransUnion

In other news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,095,112.82. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total transaction of $93,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 59,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,568,076.80. This trade represents a 1.65 % 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 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.