Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Raises Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 22.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 28,706 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,241 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Western Union were worth $351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 7,569.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,905,891 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $194,405,000 after purchasing an additional 13,724,584 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Western Union during the fourth quarter valued at $27,925,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 7,460,960 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $88,935,000 after buying an additional 1,627,822 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union in the 1st quarter worth about $12,051,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Western Union by 351.3% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 959,162 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,434,000 after buying an additional 746,625 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Price Performance

Shares of WU opened at $11.80 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.82. The firm has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of 6.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $10.92 and a 1-year high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 123.71%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.97%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Western Union from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.14.

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.