The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) have been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the ten ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eight have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $12.63.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Union

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 52.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 895 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Western Union by 1.1% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 80,813 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $979,000 after acquiring an additional 896 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Western Union by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,316 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of Western Union by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 238,876 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 88,410 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Trading Up 0.1 %

WU stock opened at $10.44 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $10.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.55. Western Union has a fifty-two week low of $10.26 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19. The firm has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 5.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10.

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

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.21%.

Western Union announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Friday, December 13th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 27.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.