The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Receives $12.63 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eight have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $12.63.

Several research firms have recently commented on WU. Barclays lowered their target price on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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 note on Monday, December 9th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Western Union during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 52.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 895 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Western Union by 89.3% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,226 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,522 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Western Union by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,316 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 1,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Western Union during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $60,000. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Trading Down 1.5 %

WU stock opened at $10.28 on Thursday. Western Union has a 1-year low of $10.21 and a 1-year high of $14.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The business’s 50 day moving average is $10.76 and its 200-day moving average is $11.52. The firm has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.85.

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

Western Union declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, December 13th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to buy up to 27.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.14%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.21%.

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.