Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Purchases 12,283 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 25.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,046 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,283 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Western Union were worth $716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Union in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Western Union in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Quarry LP increased its position 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Western Union Price Performance

WU stock opened at $11.93 on Friday. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $10.92 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $11.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.86.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.01). Western Union had a return on equity of 123.71% and a net margin of 13.64%. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.88%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.67%.

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.