TransUnion (TRU): Vulcan Value Partners Journey from Observation to Investment

Investment management company Vulcan Value Partners recently released its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. All the strategies of Vulcan Value Partners delivered positive results in the year. The Large Cap Composite (Net) returned -1.5% in Q4 and 7.9% YTD, the Small Cap Composite (Net) gained 3.2% in Q4 and 9.5% YTD, The Focus Composite (Net) retuned 0.1% in Q4 and 7.1% YTD, Focus Plus Composite (Net) returned 0.1% in Q4 and 6.2% YTD and the All-Cap Composite (Net) returned 1.3% in Q4 and 10.7% YTD. Despite overvalued markets, the firm improved its price-to-value ratios while still achieving positive returns, prioritizing safety and long-term gains over short-term performance. This situation echoes the late 1990s dot-com bubble, where hype and high valuations led to a crash, and today’s AI disruptions seem to mirror that pattern, with investors risking overpaying for promising businesses. The firm is addressing such situations by sticking to its investment discipline. For more information on the firm’s best picks in 2025, please check its top five holdings. In addition, please check the firm’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.

In its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter, Vulcan Value Partners highlighted stocks like TransUnion (NYSE:TRU). Vulcan Value Partners added TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) to its Large Cap and All Cap strategies during the quarter. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) is a leading consumer credit reporting agency. TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) shares traded between $66.38 and $101.19 over the past 52 weeks. On January 22, 2026, TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) stock closed at $85.80 per share. One-month return of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) was -1.77%, and its shares gained 0.23% of their value over the last three months. TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) has a market capitalization of $16.714 billion.

Vulcan Value Partners stated the following regarding TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) in its fourth quarter 2025 investor letter:

"TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) is one of the three leading credit bureaus in the U.S. They collect consumer borrowing and payment data from over 95,000 financial institutions and generate a credit report and credit score, which is then sold to lenders, insurance companies, landlords, and others. TransUnion has also been diversifying beyond just credit reports and credit scores. Their consumer business includes free and subscription-based tools that enable consumers to manage their personal finances and shop for financial products, including loans and insurance. Lenders, insurance companies, and other financial services companies then purchase leads from TransUnion to target those consumers. TransUnion also has other business lines that utilize its existing consumer data, including insurance, marketing, fraud detection, identity verification, and tenant screening. TransUnion historically has grown organically in the high single digits with an attractive 30% operating margin, generating high returns. They operate in an oligopoly industry and compete with the likes of Experian and Equifax, which are also MVP businesses. They have massive data sets using both public and proprietary data. Their customers embed TransUnion’s products into their own workflows. TransUnion has also been successfully deleveraging its balance sheet and is now placing a much greater emphasis on share buybacks. We have followed this business for many years and are happy to own it."

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. According to our database, 48 hedge fund portfolios held TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) at the end of the third quarter, compared to 55 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.