Brokerages Set The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) PT at $13.14

Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the ten brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and seven have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $13.14.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Union

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WU. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Western Union by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 57,957 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $691,000 after buying an additional 2,812 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Western Union by 134.1% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 132,229 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,576,000 after purchasing an additional 75,753 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its holdings in Western Union by 28.1% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 14,129 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $168,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in Western Union by 91.4% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 68,098 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $812,000 after purchasing an additional 32,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 25.5% in the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 19,189 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 3,902 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:WU opened at $11.67 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $11.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.59. The stock has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98. Western Union has a 12 month low of $10.92 and a 12 month high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 123.71% and a net margin of 13.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Western Union will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.05%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.62%.

Western Union Company 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.