Millennium Management LLC Raises Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Millennium Management LLC grew its position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 62.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,730,450 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,439,310 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned about 1.10% of Western Union worth $45,586,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 57,957 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 2,812 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 134.1% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 132,229 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,576,000 after purchasing an additional 75,753 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 14,129 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 91.4% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 68,098 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $812,000 after purchasing an additional 32,525 shares during the period. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 19,189 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 3,902 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Stock Performance

NYSE:WU opened at $11.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of 6.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.86. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $10.92 and a 1-year high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.01). Western Union had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 123.71%. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. Western Union’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.99%. Western Union’s payout ratio is 55.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.14.

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.