Western Union (NYSE:WU) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Western Union (NYSE:WU) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The credit services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.01), Briefing.com reports. Western Union had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 120.76%. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Western Union updated its FY24 guidance to $1.70-1.80 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 1.700-1.800 EPS.

Western Union Price Performance

Shares of WU traded down $0.93 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $12.04. The stock had a trading volume of 10,090,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,006,024. The company’s 50-day moving average is $12.54 and its 200 day moving average is $12.92. Western Union has a 12-month low of $10.92 and a 12-month high of $14.19. 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Western Union’s payout ratio is currently 55.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WU has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.43.

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.