By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU – Free Report) by 19.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 480,543 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 76,900 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Western Union were worth $5,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WU. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Western Union by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 50,387 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $534,000 after acquiring an additional 1,072 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 0.5% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 238,876 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 1.4% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 88,410 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Western Union by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 13,177 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 1,508 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Western Union by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 61,606 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $653,000 after buying an additional 1,560 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective 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. UBS Group decreased their target price on 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, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.11.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on WU
Western Union Price Performance
Shares of NYSE:WU opened at $10.84 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a PE ratio of 3.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $10.55 and a 200-day moving average of $11.15. The Western Union Company has a one year low of $10.04 and a one year high of $14.19.
Western Union (NYSE:WU – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.02). Western Union had a net margin of 22.19% and a return on equity of 96.90%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Western Union declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, December 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to repurchase up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
Western Union Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.67%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.43%.
Western Union Company 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.
Further Reading
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