Dun & Bradstreet (DNB), as a provider of business information, has a lot riding on the flow of demand as business deals heat up. However, with Europe in a frenzy over debt problems and the United States treading water for now, things could be slow for a time to come, a fact about which the company talks openly.

Dun & Bradstreet provides commercial information and insight on businesses using a global commercial database which as of Dec. 31, 2011 contained more than 205 million business records. The database is enhanced by a proprietary process which transforms commercial data into insights which the company sells to customers, who use it to make business decisions.

“D&B is a company committed to delivering total shareholder return (TSR),” DNB management said in a recent filing. “To achieve this objective, we remain focused on three key drivers of TSR over time: revenue growth; margin expansion; and maintaining a disciplined approach to deploying our free cash flow.”

Beginning in 2011, Dun & Bradstreet began reporting business through three segments: North America (the United States and Canada), Asia Pacific (Australia, Japan, China and India), and Europe and other International, primarily the United Kingdom, Belgium, Latin America and the company’s global network.

Dun & Bradstreet has a market cap of $3.27 billion in a sector, professional services, where the average company size is $947.3 million. Its trailing 12-month P/E ratio is 12.17 and its five-year projected price-to-earnings-growth (PEG) ratio is 1.19, compared to 2.08 for the sector.

Its projected earnings per share growth for the coming year is 5.84 percent, compared to a sector average of 16.61 percent.

Positive stance

Wall Street is dividend on DNB. Columbine Capital and JP Morgan have the stock rated at underperform, while Ned Davis Research and Ativo Research call it a buy.

“The company provided a disappointing 2012 outlook, which reflects a sluggish macro environment in North America and weakness in Europe. Moreover, we believe that increasing competition from companies including Equifax Inc. and Moody s Corp will hurt profitability going forward,” Zacks analysts said in a recent report.

"However, we have a positive stance on D&B over the long term owing to its high-margin business model, strong international growth potential, emerging market growth opportunities, strategic investments, incremental cost savings and new product pipeline. Thus, we remain neutral and set a price target of $67.”

Dun & Bradstreet next reports on July 26.