66,523 Shares in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Bought by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 66,523 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $705,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,305,933 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $66,843,000 after buying an additional 1,857,012 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Western Union by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,489,079 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $132,384,000 after purchasing an additional 549,931 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Western Union by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,698,559 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,264,000 after purchasing an additional 283,479 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Western Union by 603.2% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 314,892 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,338,000 after purchasing an additional 270,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter worth $1,113,000. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WU shares. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.11.

Western Union Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of NYSE WU opened at $10.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04. The company has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.79. The Western Union Company has a 52 week low of $9.92 and a 52 week high of $13.93. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.89.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.02). Western Union had a net margin of 22.19% and a return on equity of 96.90%. Research analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.28%. Western Union’s payout ratio is currently 34.43%.

Western Union announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, December 13th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.