Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires Shares of 6,935 TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 6,935 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $643,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in TransUnion by 12.1% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,308,028 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $136,951,000 after buying an additional 140,952 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 3,427,199 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new stake in TransUnion in the third quarter worth $892,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in TransUnion by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 26,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,439,000 after buying an additional 4,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in TransUnion by 6,720.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 128,706 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,476,000 after buying an additional 126,819 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TRU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday, February 14th. 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 note on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, TransUnion presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.64.

TransUnion Stock Performance

TRU opened at $89.59 on Tuesday. TransUnion has a 52-week low of $66.07 and a 52-week high of $113.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $17.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $94.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.58.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.51%.

TransUnion announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $93,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,568,076.80. This represents 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, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,095,112.82. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,021 shares of company stock worth $383,041. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

TransUnion 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.