Barclays PLC Has $7.26 Million Stock Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Barclays PLC grew its position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 608,454 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,327 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.18% of Western Union worth $7,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in Western Union by 21.0% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 205,562 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,452,000 after buying an additional 35,680 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in shares of Western Union by 82.4% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 136,355 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,627,000 after purchasing an additional 61,617 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 29,204 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 4,247 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union in the 3rd quarter valued at $734,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Western Union by 9.0% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 88,083 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,051,000 after purchasing an additional 7,270 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WU has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group cut their target price on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays reduced their target price on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Union currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.63.

Western Union Price Performance

Shares of Western Union stock opened at $10.75 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 5.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $11.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.76. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $10.51 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 120.39%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.74%. Western Union’s payout ratio is 48.21%.

Western Union announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, December 13th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.