The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) have received an average rating of “Reduce” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $12.86.

WU has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th.

Western Union Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of WU stock opened at $10.80 on Friday. Western Union has a 12-month low of $10.75 and a 12-month high of $14.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $11.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.86.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.02. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.39% and a net margin of 16.07%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Western Union will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Western Union

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WU. Quarry LP raised its stake in Western Union by 52.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 895 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Western Union by 1.1% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 80,813 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $979,000 after buying an additional 896 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management raised its stake in Western Union by 1.8% in the second quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 56,066 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 979 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Western Union by 31.1% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,316 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 1,024 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Western Union by 4.2% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 27,050 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 1,091 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

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.