Western Union (NYSE:WU) Given New $12.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) had its price target cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $14.00 to $12.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on WU. Citigroup reissued a neutral rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com raised Western Union from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $13.14.

Western Union Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of WU opened at $11.66 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.84. Western Union has a twelve month low of $10.92 and a twelve month high of $14.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 123.71% and a net margin of 13.64%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Western Union will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.07%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.62%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Union

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Western Union by 7,569.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,905,891 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $194,405,000 after acquiring an additional 13,724,584 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 17.7% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,736,930 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $118,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462,853 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in Western Union by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 7,460,960 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $88,935,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627,822 shares in the last quarter. Discerene Group LP increased its holdings in Western Union by 11.9% in the first quarter. Discerene Group LP now owns 6,682,192 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $93,417,000 after buying an additional 710,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Western Union by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,543,650 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $54,161,000 after buying an additional 721,331 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.