Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda Grows Stock Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda lifted its position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 62.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,023 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,363 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda’s holdings in Western Union were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WU. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter worth $46,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 1,092.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,462 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 5,004 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter worth $75,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter worth $102,000. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt assumed coverage on shares of Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.61.

Western Union Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Western Union stock opened at $12.37 on Wednesday. The Western Union Company has a 52-week low of $10.92 and a 52-week high of $14.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.82. The firm has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.05. Western Union had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 120.76%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.60%. Western Union’s payout ratio is currently 55.62%.

Western Union Profile

The Western Union Company provides money movement and payment services worldwide. The company operates through Consumer Money Transfer and Consumer Services segments. The Consumer Money Transfer segment facilitates money transfers for international cross-border and intra-country transfers, primarily through a network of retail agent locations, as well as through websites and mobile devices.