Kendall Capital Management Sells 8,515 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Kendall Capital Management cut its stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,377 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 8,515 shares during the quarter. Kendall Capital Management’s holdings in Western Union were worth $738,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WU. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Western Union by 7,569.8% in 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 buying an additional 13,724,584 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,736,930 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $118,985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,462,853 shares during the last quarter. 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 acquiring an additional 1,627,822 shares in the last quarter. Discerene Group LP grew its position in Western Union by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Discerene Group LP now owns 6,682,192 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $93,417,000 after acquiring an additional 710,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Western Union by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,543,650 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $54,161,000 after purchasing an additional 721,331 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Western Union Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WU opened at $11.90 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a PE ratio of 7.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.72. The Western Union Company has a twelve month low of $10.92 and a twelve month high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.90%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WU. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.14.

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.