The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) has been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the fourteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and nine have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $8.8182.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WU shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Western Union to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Friday.

Western Union Trading Up 0.2%

WU opened at $8.39 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.17, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.88, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Western Union has a one year low of $7.85 and a one year high of $10.35.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.15). The business 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 revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. Western Union has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.750-1.850 EPS. Analysts predict that Western Union will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.2%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.12%.

Insider Activity at Western Union

In other news, insider Benjamin Carlton Adams sold 19,924 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.23, for a total value of $183,898.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 234,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,166,179.47. This represents a 7.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Giovanni Angelini sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 311,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,947,935.24. This represents a 1.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 3.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WU. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 11,759.8% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,954,045 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $74,052,000 after buying an additional 7,886,978 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 53.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 2,399,631 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $19,173,000 after buying an additional 831,245 shares during the last quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. now owns 869,949 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,951,000 after buying an additional 144,405 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 6,329,626 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $50,574,000 after buying an additional 2,140,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 381,429 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,048,000 after buying an additional 60,513 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Company 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.