TransUnion (TRU) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.12 on March 14th

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th, RTT News reports. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date 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 9.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect TransUnion to earn $4.81 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.46 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 9.6%.

TransUnion Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE TRU opened at $93.29 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $94.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.40. TransUnion has a 12-month low of $66.07 and a 12-month high of $113.17. The company has a market capitalization of $18.20 billion, a PE ratio of 63.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.63.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last announced its 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). The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. Equities analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TRU has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.64.

Insider Activity at TransUnion

In other news, insider Todd C. Skinner sold 3,090 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.48, for a total value of $313,573.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,469,312.84. This represents a 11.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 60,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,092,956.24. This trade represents a 2.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,590 shares of company stock valued at $654,218. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.