Quantinno Capital Management LP Boosts Stock Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,552 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Western Union were worth $457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WU. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Western Union during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 52.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 895 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake 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 worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 1,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Western Union in the third quarter valued at $60,000. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group reduced 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 report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Union currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.63.

Western Union Stock Performance

NYSE WU opened at $10.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.86. The Western Union Company has a 52-week low of $10.51 and a 52-week high of $14.19. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $11.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.74%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.21%.

Western Union declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Friday, December 13th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to purchase up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Union 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.