Cetera Investment Advisers Trims Stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Cetera Investment Advisers cut its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 26.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 77,330 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 28,289 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Western Union were worth $945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Union during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 52.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 895 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Western Union during the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Western Union by 89.3% during 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 in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Western Union Stock Performance

Western Union stock opened at $11.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The Western Union Company has a one year low of $10.92 and a one year high of $14.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $11.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 7.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.86.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 123.71% and a net margin of 13.64%. The company’s revenue was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.88%. Western Union’s payout ratio is 57.67%.

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.