Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 555,552 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 54.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 470,116 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 555,552 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.14% of Western Union worth $4,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its position in Western Union by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,926,192 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $154,209,000 after buying an additional 52,081 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew 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 acquiring an additional 549,931 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,179,698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $85,671,000 after acquiring an additional 25,458 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings 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 valued at $66,843,000 after buying an additional 1,857,012 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Western Union by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,698,559 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,264,000 after buying an additional 283,479 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Union Price Performance

Shares of WU stock opened at $10.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04. The Western Union Company has a twelve month low of $10.04 and a twelve month high of $14.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.05. The company has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a PE ratio of 3.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.79.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Western Union’s payout ratio is 34.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WU shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.11.

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.