The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Receives $12.86 Average Target Price from Brokerages

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $12.86.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WU. UBS Group dropped their target price on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. StockNews.com upgraded Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Union

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Western Union by 7,569.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 13,724,584 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,462,853 shares during the period. Discerene Group LP increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 11.9% in the first quarter. Discerene Group LP now owns 6,682,192 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $93,417,000 after purchasing an additional 710,873 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 62.8% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,730,450 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,586,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 52.0% in the second 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. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Union Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of WU stock opened at $10.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a PE ratio of 5.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.86. Western Union has a 1-year low of $10.75 and a 1-year high of $14.19. The business has a 50-day moving average of $11.82 and a 200 day moving average of $12.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.39% and a net margin of 16.07%. Western Union’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Union will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

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.