76,414 Shares in The Western Union Company $WU Acquired by Navellier & Associates Inc.

Navellier & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 76,414 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $588,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WU. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Union by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,471,400 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $320,929,000 after buying an additional 1,171,810 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Western Union during the 2nd quarter worth $241,806,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,984,472 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $130,195,000 after buying an additional 580,264 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Western Union by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,081,062 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $121,785,000 after acquiring an additional 624,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Western Union by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,746,779 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $99,891,000 after acquiring an additional 962,341 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WU has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $8.00 price target on shares of Western Union in a report on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “sell” rating and set a $6.00 price objective on shares of Western Union in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Western Union from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Western Union from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and eight have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Western Union presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average target price of $7.55.

Western Union Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE WU opened at $7.24 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.47. The Western Union Company has a 12 month low of $6.27 and a 12 month high of $10.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company has a 50-day moving average of $7.61 and a 200-day moving average of $8.42.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 9.79% and a return on equity of 50.89%. Western Union’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. Western Union has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.250-1.350 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Western Union Company will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.0%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.42%.

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.