Sei Investments Co. Sells 28,134 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Sei Investments Co. cut its stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 701,317 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 28,134 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Western Union were worth $8,571,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Western Union by 1.1% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 80,813 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $979,000 after acquiring an additional 896 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management raised its position in Western Union by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 56,066 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $685,000 after purchasing an additional 979 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Union by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 27,050 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 1,091 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Western Union by 59.9% in the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Western Union by 14.2% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 11,751 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 1,465 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 price target on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.14.

Western Union Price Performance

Shares of WU opened at $12.16 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.63. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $10.92 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19. The stock has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a PE ratio of 7.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

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

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.73%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.62%.

Western Union 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.