Sanctuary Advisors LLC Takes $310,000 Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 28,009 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $310,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 3.0% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 75,366 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $921,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Western Union in the 2nd quarter valued at $626,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in Western Union by 42.1% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 50,342 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $615,000 after buying an additional 14,914 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 354,607 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,333,000 after acquiring an additional 36,951 shares during the period. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 37.7% in the second quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 49,538 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 13,570 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Price Performance

NYSE WU opened at $10.68 on Friday. The Western Union Company has a 1 year low of $10.39 and a 1 year high of $14.19. The business’s fifty day moving average is $10.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.02. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.39% and a net margin of 16.07%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, December 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to reacquire up to 27.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd. Western Union’s payout ratio is 48.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on WU. UBS Group cut their price objective on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.63.

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.