Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 194,720 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 14.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,127,303 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 194,720 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.33% of Western Union worth $13,776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WU. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 5,731.4% during the second 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 during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Western Union by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 75,366 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $921,000 after buying an additional 2,163 shares during the period. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Western Union by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. now owns 60,618 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $741,000 after buying an additional 5,631 shares during the period. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. increased its position in shares of Western Union by 43.0% during the second quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 491,792 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,010,000 after acquiring an additional 147,806 shares during the period. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 5.3% during the second quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 87,248 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after acquiring an additional 4,424 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on WU. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Union presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.14.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of Western Union stock opened at $12.07 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98. The Western Union Company has a 52 week low of $10.92 and a 52 week high of $14.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $12.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.80.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.01). Western Union had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 123.71%. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.79%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.62%.

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.