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

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) has been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $12.63.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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 report 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Union

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,736,930 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $118,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462,853 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 62.8% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,730,450 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $45,586,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439,310 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Western Union by 52.0% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,337,466 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142,400 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union during the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,726,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Western Union by 5,731.4% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 787,943 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,629,000 after buying an additional 774,431 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Union Stock Down 1.3 %

Western Union stock opened at $10.76 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $11.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.79. The stock has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.52, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.86. Western Union has a 52 week low of $10.51 and a 52 week 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.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 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 analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 120.39%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Western Union will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union declared that its board has authorized a stock 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 repurchase up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd will be given 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%.

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.