Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 2,134 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Wellington Management Group LLP cut its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,957 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,134 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Western Union were worth $787,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Western Union by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,926,192 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $154,209,000 after purchasing an additional 52,081 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Western Union by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 38,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 4,552 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Western Union by 23.0% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 47,742 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $570,000 after buying an additional 8,943 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union in the third quarter worth about $11,726,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 79.2% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 541,626 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,462,000 after acquiring an additional 239,367 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE WU opened at $10.70 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a PE ratio of 5.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.86. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $10.51 and a 1-year high of $14.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $11.04 and a 200-day moving average of $11.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 120.39% and a net margin of 16.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd. Western Union’s payout ratio is 48.21%.

Western Union announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, December 13th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 27.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on WU shares. 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 note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.63.

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.