Brokerages Set The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Target Price at $13.05

Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) have earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.25.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt assumed coverage on Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Western Union in a report on Tuesday, December 19th.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WU opened at $12.84 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $13.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.64, a PEG ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 0.85. Western Union has a 1 year low of $10.37 and a 1 year high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. Western Union had a return on equity of 113.63% and a net margin of 14.37%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Western Union will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.32%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is 55.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy P. Murphy acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.85 per share, for a total transaction of $128,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 56,205 shares in the company, valued at $722,234.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Union

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Western Union by 8.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,774,680 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $617,958,000 after buying an additional 3,522,420 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in Western Union by 2.3% during the third quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 17,854,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $235,324,000 after buying an additional 408,661 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Western Union by 10.4% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,856,481 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $315,890,000 after buying an additional 1,592,331 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Western Union by 10.5% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,498,861 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $151,555,000 after buying an additional 1,088,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Western Union by 17.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,882,154 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $130,247,000 after buying an additional 1,439,595 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.