B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 3,665 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,990 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 3,665 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Western Union were worth $199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Union during the third quarter worth $25,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Western Union by 52.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 895 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Western Union by 89.3% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,226 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 31.1% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,316 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Western Union during the third quarter worth about $60,000. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Union Stock Performance

WU stock opened at $10.71 on Monday. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $10.51 and a 1-year high of $14.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $11.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.72. The firm has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a PE ratio of 5.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.86.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.39% and a net margin of 16.07%. The company’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 23rd. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.21%.

Western Union announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, December 13th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to repurchase up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.63.

Western Union 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.