Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 5,777 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,383 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 5,777 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Western Union were worth $513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Western Union by 6.5% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 384,575 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,700,000 after buying an additional 23,523 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Western Union by 18.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 142,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,740,000 after acquiring an additional 21,766 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Western Union by 62.8% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,730,450 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $45,586,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439,310 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Western Union by 30.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 348,850 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,263,000 after buying an additional 82,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Western Union by 89.3% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,226 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WU opened at $10.27 on Wednesday. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $10.19 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a PE ratio of 5.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.16%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.21%.

Western Union announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, December 13th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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 cut their price objective on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.63.

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.