Brandes Investment Partners LP Acquires New Holdings in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Brandes Investment Partners LP bought a new position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,783 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in TransUnion in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of TransUnion during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Westpac Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of TransUnion by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 908 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in TransUnion by 48.6% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,030 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in TransUnion by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter.

TransUnion Stock Up 0.8 %

TransUnion stock traded up $0.65 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $77.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 233,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,657,950. TransUnion has a 52-week low of $42.09 and a 52-week high of $82.75. The company has a market cap of $15.01 billion, a PE ratio of -53.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $76.29 and its 200 day moving average is $70.47.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.12. TransUnion had a negative net margin of 7.02% and a positive return on equity of 14.26%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $977.62 million. On average, analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.105 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -29.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on TRU. Bank of America upgraded shares of TransUnion from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on TransUnion from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on TransUnion from $83.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of TransUnion from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransUnion

In other TransUnion news, EVP Richard Dane Mauldin sold 1,500 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.10, for a total transaction of $117,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,720,777.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Richard Dane Mauldin sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.10, for a total value of $117,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,720,777.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.30, for a total transaction of $144,307.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 75,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,105,548.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,275 shares of company stock valued at $1,204,538 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.28% 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.