Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Acquires 3,142 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 200,742 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,142 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp owned approximately 0.06% of Western Union worth $2,393,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WU. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Western Union by 134.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,956 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Western Union in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Western Union by 92.2% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,366 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in Western Union in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 1,092.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,462 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 5,004 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on WU. Barclays boosted their price target on Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt began coverage on Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy P. Murphy purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $12.85 per share, with a total value of $128,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 56,205 shares in the company, valued at $722,234.25. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Western Union Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WU traded down $0.50 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $13.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,331,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,393,870. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.82, a PEG ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.85. 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 50 day moving average price of $13.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.61. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $10.37 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.05. Western Union had a return on equity of 113.63% and a net margin of 14.37%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.18%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.95%.

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.