Western Union (NYSE:WU) Updates FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Western Union (NYSE:WU) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided EPS guidance of 1.700-1.800 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 1.700. The company issued revenue guidance of $4.2 billion-$4.2 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $4.1 billion. Western Union also updated its FY24 guidance to $1.70-1.80 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WU shares. Wolfe Research restated an underperform rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. William Blair reissued a market perform rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $13.25.

Western Union Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:WU traded up $0.19 on Wednesday, reaching $13.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,713,791 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,439,084. Western Union has a 12-month low of $10.37 and a 12-month high of $14.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.23. The firm has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $13.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.60.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 113.63% and a net margin of 14.37%. Western Union’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Western Union will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.92%. Western Union’s payout ratio is currently 55.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Western Union news, Director Timothy P. Murphy acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $12.85 per share, for a total transaction of $128,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 56,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $722,234.25. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.