TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Strong Sell

Zacks Research lowered shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report report published on Thursday,Zacks reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings raised TransUnion from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. BNP Paribas Exane raised TransUnion from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Mizuho dropped their price target on TransUnion from $77.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 19th. Wall Street Zen cut TransUnion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on TransUnion from $85.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.69.

TransUnion Stock Up 1.7%

TRU opened at $76.74 on Thursday. TransUnion has a fifty-two week low of $60.96 and a fifty-two week high of $89.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.67, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.58. The company’s 50-day moving average is $74.50 and its 200 day moving average is $74.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. TransUnion had a net margin of 15.83% and a return on equity of 16.51%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. Research analysts expect that TransUnion will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.1350 per share. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.1250. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Todd C. Skinner sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.29, for a total transaction of $62,290.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 54,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,411,249.56. This represents a 1.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $70,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 78,888 shares in the company, valued at $5,522,160. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,377 shares of company stock valued at $3,200,570. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TransUnion

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRU. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of TransUnion by 9.2% in the third quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,536 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $806,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in TransUnion in the third quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Peak Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in TransUnion during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,843,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in TransUnion by 42.6% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 887 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in TransUnion in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $532,000.

TransUnion News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting TransUnion this week:

• Positive Sentiment: RBC Capital maintained a Buy rating on TransUnion, indicating continued confidence in the company’s growth outlook. RBC Capital Remains a Buy on TransUnion
• Positive Sentiment: Needham & Company projected substantial potential appreciation for TRU, providing a bullish counterpoint to recent target-price reductions. Needham Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for TransUnion
• Positive Sentiment: A third-quarter review highlighted international strength and insurance diversification as important offsets to mortgage-market headwinds. TransUnion’s latest reported quarter also showed 12.2% year-over-year revenue growth and earnings above consensus. TRU Q3 Deep Dive
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America Securities assigned TransUnion a Hold rating, suggesting the current valuation and outlook are broadly balanced. TransUnion Gets a Hold from Bank of America
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst discussion following the third-quarter earnings call focused on key questions around growth drivers, demand trends and the company’s outlook. Five Analyst Questions from TransUnion’s Q3 Earnings Call
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded TRU from Hold to Strong Sell, the most significant negative rating signal in the latest news. Zacks Research Ratings
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel lowered its expectations for TransUnion’s stock price, while the shares were reported to have fallen below their 200-day moving average after an analyst downgrade—both signs of technical and sentiment pressure. Stifel Lowers TransUnion Price Expectations TransUnion Breaks Below 200-Day Moving Average

About TransUnion

TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) is a global information and insights company that helps businesses and consumers make more informed decisions. The company collects, analyzes and delivers data related to credit, identity, fraud and consumer behavior, serving customers across financial services, insurance, healthcare, retail, telecommunications and other industries.

Its products and services include consumer credit reports and scores, credit-risk assessment, marketing and audience insights, identity verification, fraud detection, investigative tools and decisioning software.