Western Union (NYSE:WU) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

Western Union (NYSE:WU) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Union presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.14.

Western Union Price Performance

NYSE:WU opened at $12.12 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.85. 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’s 50-day moving average is $12.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.82. Western Union has a 12-month low of $10.92 and a 12-month high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 123.71%. Western Union’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Western Union will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Western Union

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,925,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in Western Union by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 7,460,960 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $88,935,000 after acquiring an additional 1,627,822 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in Western Union by 17.7% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,736,930 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $118,985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,462,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 valued at $45,586,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439,310 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.