UBS Group Cuts Western Union (NYSE:WU) Price Target to $12.00

Western Union (NYSE:WU) had its price objective cut by equities research analysts at UBS Group from $13.50 to $12.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 8.11% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on WU. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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 research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.86.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of WU traded down $0.45 on Thursday, reaching $11.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,467,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,043,114. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Western Union has a 12-month low of $10.92 and a 12-month high of $14.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.80, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.39.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.02. Western Union had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 123.71%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Western Union will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Union

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Western Union by 7,569.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,905,891 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $194,405,000 after purchasing an additional 13,724,584 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in Western Union by 17.7% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,736,930 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $118,985,000 after buying an additional 1,462,853 shares during the period. Discerene Group LP boosted its stake in Western Union by 11.9% during the first quarter. Discerene Group LP now owns 6,682,192 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $93,417,000 after buying an additional 710,873 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Western Union by 62.8% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,730,450 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,586,000 after buying an additional 1,439,310 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Western Union by 52.0% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,337,466 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,784,000 after buying an additional 1,142,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.81% 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.