The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Receives $12.63 Consensus PT from Brokerages

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $12.63.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WU shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WU. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Western Union by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 27,044 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Western Union by 8.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,103,296 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $13,061,000 after purchasing an additional 81,343 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in Western Union by 1.4% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 88,410 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Western Union in the third quarter worth about $310,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union during the third quarter valued at about $381,000. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Union Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of WU opened at $10.70 on Friday. Western Union has a 1 year low of $10.51 and a 1 year high of $14.19. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.75. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Western Union announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, December 13th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to repurchase up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 23rd. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio 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.