PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. Invests $1.16 Million in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. bought a new position in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 11,110 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,163,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Huntington National Bank grew its position in TransUnion by 84.5% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 286 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its position in TransUnion by 963.0% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 574 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in TransUnion by 22.3% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 910 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in TransUnion by 156.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 857 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the period. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in TransUnion during the second quarter worth about $75,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Heather J. Russell sold 3,173 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.58, for a total value of $303,275.34. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,904,527.08. This represents a 13.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.66, for a total transaction of $158,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 62,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,655,312.08. The trade was a 2.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,315 shares of company stock valued at $1,119,897 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on TRU. Barclays upped their target price on shares of TransUnion from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of TransUnion from $97.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.81.

TransUnion Stock Performance

NYSE:TRU opened at $97.03 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $18.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.62. TransUnion has a fifty-two week low of $56.85 and a fifty-two week high of $113.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $103.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.36.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. TransUnion had a net margin of 5.47% and a return on equity of 15.38%. TransUnion’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.46 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

TransUnion Company 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.