GSA Capital Partners LLP Grows Stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 185.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,295 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,574 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP’s holdings in Western Union were worth $433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 52.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 895 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Union during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Western Union by 89.3% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,226 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Western Union by 59.9% in the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233 shares during the period. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Western Union during the 3rd quarter worth $60,000. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Western Union Stock Performance

NYSE:WU opened at $10.73 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $10.51 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19. The stock has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a PE ratio of 5.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.06.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 120.39%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. Analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.86.

About Western Union

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.