Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires Shares of 141,000 The Western Union Company $WU

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 141,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Western Union by 11,759.8% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,954,045 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $74,052,000 after purchasing an additional 7,886,978 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Western Union by 401.4% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,604,026 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $70,793,000 after purchasing an additional 6,087,613 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 821.1% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 4,170,343 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $35,114,000 after buying an additional 3,717,589 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in shares of Western Union by 28.0% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 16,948,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $135,417,000 after buying an additional 3,708,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Western Union by 3,370.2% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,740,849 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $34,827,000 after buying an additional 3,633,049 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings lowered Western Union from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $8.82.

Western Union Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE WU opened at $8.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a PE ratio of 5.89, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.46. The Western Union Company has a 12 month low of $6.91 and a 12 month high of $10.35. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $8.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.88.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $963.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 55.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. Western Union has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.750-1.850 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. Western Union’s payout ratio is currently 69.12%.

Insider Activity at Western Union

In other Western Union news, insider Benjamin Carlton Adams sold 19,924 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.23, for a total transaction of $183,898.52. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 234,689 shares in the company, valued at $2,166,179.47. This trade represents a 7.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Giovanni Angelini sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.47, for a total value of $56,820.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 311,292 shares in the company, valued at $2,947,935.24. The trade was a 1.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 3.29% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Profile

Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments. The company enables individuals and businesses to send and receive money through a variety of channels, including its vast agent network, online platforms, and mobile applications. Core services include person-to-person money transfers, business-to-business cross-border payments, bill payment services and prepaid card programs.

Through its digital offerings, Western Union provides customers with the ability to initiate transfers via its website and mobile app, as well as track transactions in real time.