The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Receives $13.14 Average PT from Analysts

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) has been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the ten research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and seven have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $13.14.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st.

Western Union Stock Down 0.7 %

Western Union stock opened at $11.72 on Tuesday. Western Union has a fifty-two week low of $10.92 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19. The stock has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a PE ratio of 6.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.01). Western Union had a return on equity of 123.71% and a net margin of 13.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Western Union will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Western Union’s payout ratio is currently 55.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Union

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WU. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Western Union by 30.7% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 348,850 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,263,000 after buying an additional 82,018 shares during the last quarter. Insight Folios Inc purchased a new position in Western Union in the first quarter worth about $5,388,000. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Western Union by 24.2% in the first quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 559,248 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,818,000 after buying an additional 109,014 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Western Union by 5.5% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,252,897 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,516,000 after buying an additional 65,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Western Union by 7,569.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,905,891 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $194,405,000 after buying an additional 13,724,584 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

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.