The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Shares Purchased by Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC

Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 59.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,292 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,233 shares during the quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Western Union were worth $46,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union during the fourth quarter worth $300,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Union by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 841,034 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,057,000 after buying an additional 138,915 shares during the last quarter. Insight Folios Inc purchased a new position in shares of Western Union during the 1st quarter worth about $5,388,000. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Western Union by 24.2% during the first quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 559,248 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,818,000 after acquiring an additional 109,014 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Western Union by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,252,897 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,516,000 after purchasing an additional 65,087 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com cut Western Union from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Union has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.43.

Western Union Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of Western Union stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $11.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,749,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,383,693. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.91. The company has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a PE ratio of 6.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.85. The Western Union Company has a 52 week low of $10.92 and a 52 week high of $14.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.01). Western Union had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 123.71%. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that The Western Union Company will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.16%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.62%.

Western Union Company Profile

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.