Verition Fund Management LLC Grows Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 9.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 64,988 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,745 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Western Union were worth $775,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WU. Quarry LP boosted its position 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 worth $32,000 after buying an additional 895 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Western Union by 89.3% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,226 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Western Union by 31.1% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,316 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares in the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union during the third quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 1,189.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,854 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 7,245 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Price Performance

Shares of WU opened at $10.93 on Tuesday. The Western Union Company has a 52 week low of $10.51 and a 52 week high of $14.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.61, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $11.17 and a 200-day moving average of $11.84.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released 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. Western Union had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 120.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WU has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.75.

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.