Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Takes $275,000 Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 25,960 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $275,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 50,387 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 1,072 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Western Union by 1.4% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 88,410 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Western Union by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 61,606 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,560 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in Western Union by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 45,825 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Western Union by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 27,044 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WU has been the topic of several research reports. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays dropped their price target on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.11.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of WU stock opened at $10.48 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.84, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.79. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $10.04 and a fifty-two week high of $13.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $10.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.94.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.02). Western Union had a net margin of 22.19% and a return on equity of 96.90%. Analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.97%. Western Union’s payout ratio is presently 34.43%.

Western Union announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, December 13th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Union 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.