Oak Thistle LLC Purchases New Shares in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 14,375 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WU. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Western Union in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Western Union during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in Western Union in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Western Union by 1,092.6% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,462 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 5,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Western Union in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $75,000. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on WU. Monness Crespi & Hardt began coverage on Western Union in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.61.

Western Union Price Performance

Western Union stock opened at $12.16 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38. The company has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a PE ratio of 7.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.85. The Western Union Company has a 12 month low of $10.92 and a 12 month high of $14.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $12.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.84.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.76% and a net margin of 14.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. Analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.73%. Western Union’s payout ratio is 55.62%.

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.