The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) has been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the ten research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eight have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $12.63.

WU has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group reduced 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 upgraded shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Western Union Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE WU opened at $10.53 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $10.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. Western Union has a 52-week low of $10.19 and a 52-week high of $14.19. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.02. Western Union had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 120.39%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. Western Union’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Western Union will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.93%. Western Union’s payout ratio is 48.21%.

Western Union declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase 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 repurchase up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Western Union

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Union during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in Western Union by 52.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 895 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 89.3% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,226 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,316 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 1,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Western Union in the third quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

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.