Western Union (NYSE:WU) Upgraded to Hold by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Union (NYSE:WU) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday.

WU has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target 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, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Union currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.86.

Western Union Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE WU opened at $11.17 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 6.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.86. Western Union has a 1-year low of $10.92 and a 1-year high of $14.19. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.35.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 123.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Union will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Union

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Union in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 52.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 895 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Union in the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 89.3% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,226 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,522 shares during the period. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Western Union by 59.9% during the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

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.