SageView Advisory Group LLC Buys 8,374 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 61.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,066 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,374 shares during the quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Western Union were worth $283,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Western Union in the 4th quarter worth $27,925,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 7,460,960 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $88,935,000 after acquiring an additional 1,627,822 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Western Union by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,498,861 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $151,555,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,247 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new stake in Western Union in the 3rd quarter worth $13,180,000. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 268.2% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 1,224,532 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $16,139,000 after purchasing an additional 891,949 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on WU. Monness Crespi & Hardt started coverage on Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on 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 raised their target price on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.61.

Western Union Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of WU opened at $12.20 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.81. The company has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38. The Western Union Company has a twelve month low of $10.92 and a twelve month high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 120.76%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.62%.

Western Union Company 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.