Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Reduces Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,583,037 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 55,835 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Western Union were worth $27,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Western Union by 52.0% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,337,466 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142,400 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Western Union in the third quarter valued at about $11,726,000. Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Western Union during the third quarter valued at approximately $8,124,000. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its stake in Western Union by 751.7% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 722,532 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,829,000 after buying an additional 637,702 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WU shares. Barclays lowered their price target on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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 report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.63.

Western Union Price Performance

NYSE WU opened at $10.44 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $10.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.46. The Western Union Company has a 52 week low of $10.19 and a 52 week high of $14.19. The stock has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96.

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

Western Union declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, December 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to reacquire up to 27.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.21%.

About Western Union

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.