The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Shares Acquired by WBI Investments LLC

WBI Investments LLC grew its position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 73.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,279 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,216 shares during the quarter. WBI Investments LLC’s holdings in Western Union were worth $731,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WU. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,925,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 7,460,960 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $88,935,000 after acquiring an additional 1,627,822 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 351.3% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 959,162 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,434,000 after acquiring an additional 746,625 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,543,650 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $54,161,000 after acquiring an additional 721,331 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 189.2% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 772,015 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,202,000 after acquiring an additional 505,094 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt assumed coverage on Western Union in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.61.

Western Union Price Performance

NYSE:WU traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $12.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,943,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,987,614. The business’s 50-day moving average is $12.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.85. The company has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a PE ratio of 7.33, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The Western Union Company has a 52-week low of $10.92 and a 52-week high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.76% and a net margin of 14.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.62%.

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.