Mather Group LLC. Buys Shares of 7,363 The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 7,363 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $103,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 62.9% during the 4th quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 32,023 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 12,363 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 22,066 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 8,374 shares in the last quarter. Soviero Asset Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Soviero Asset Management LP now owns 530,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,318,000 after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC boosted its stake in Western Union by 90.6% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 25,090 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 11,923 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Western Union by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 384,663 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,585,000 after buying an additional 104,369 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Price Performance

Shares of WU stock opened at $12.34 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $12.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.82. 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 12 month low of $10.92 and a 12 month high of $14.19. The company has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.85.

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

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 7.62%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt initiated coverage on Western Union in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.61.

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.