Barclays Cuts Western Union (NYSE:WU) Price Target to $10.00

Western Union (NYSE:WU) had its price target decreased by Barclays from $11.00 to $10.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

WU has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group cut 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.63.

Western Union Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WU 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. Western Union has a one year low of $10.51 and a one year high of $14.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 5.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Western Union Dividend Announcement

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

Western Union announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, December 13th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 27.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Union

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 27,044 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Western Union by 8.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,103,296 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $13,061,000 after acquiring an additional 81,343 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Western Union by 1.4% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 88,410 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Western Union in the third quarter valued at $310,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Western Union in the third quarter valued at $381,000. 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.