MCF Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 2,165 The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,165 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $30,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Western Union in the 4th quarter worth about $300,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Western Union by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 841,034 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,057,000 after acquiring an additional 138,915 shares during the period. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Western Union by 24.2% during the 1st quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 559,248 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,818,000 after acquiring an additional 109,014 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its position in Western Union by 287.4% during the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 543,957 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,484,000 after acquiring an additional 403,540 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in shares of Western Union by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 2,528,570 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,141,000 after purchasing an additional 188,462 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Western Union stock traded up $0.22 on Friday, reaching $12.22. 6,193,075 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,619,217. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $10.92 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $12.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.83.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 120.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.69%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WU shares. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt initiated coverage on Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.61.

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.