The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Stock Position Boosted by Clifford Capital Partners LLC

Clifford Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 4.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 58,129 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,711 shares during the quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Western Union were worth $710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Western Union by 7,569.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,905,891 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $194,405,000 after acquiring an additional 13,724,584 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its position in Western Union by 17.7% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,736,930 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $118,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462,853 shares in the last quarter. Discerene Group LP increased its stake in Western Union by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Discerene Group LP now owns 6,682,192 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $93,417,000 after buying an additional 710,873 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Western Union by 62.8% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,730,450 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,586,000 after buying an additional 1,439,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Western Union by 52.0% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,337,466 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. 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, Western Union currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.14.

Western Union Price Performance

Shares of WU opened at $11.76 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The Western Union Company has a 52-week low of $10.92 and a 52-week high of $14.19. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of 6.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.86.

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). Western Union had a return on equity of 123.71% and a net margin of 13.64%. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.99%. Western Union’s 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.