The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the ten brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and seven have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $12.86.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Western Union during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 895 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Western Union in the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in 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 worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,522 shares during the period. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Western Union by 59.9% during the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,233 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WU opened at $10.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.52, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.87. Western Union has a 52 week low of $10.51 and a 52 week high of $14.19.

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

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.