Amalgamated Bank Decreases Stock Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Amalgamated Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 12.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 212,762 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 31,047 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank owned 0.06% of Western Union worth $2,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Western Union by 7,569.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,905,891 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $194,405,000 after purchasing an additional 13,724,584 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings 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 valued at $118,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462,853 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in Western Union by 27.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,627,822 shares during the period. Discerene Group LP grew its holdings 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 valued at $93,417,000 after purchasing an additional 710,873 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Western Union by 18.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 721,331 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Union Price Performance

NYSE:WU opened at $12.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.86. The Western Union Company has a 52-week low of $10.92 and a 52-week high of $14.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $12.00 and a 200 day moving average of $12.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 123.71%. Western Union’s quarterly revenue was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is 55.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com raised Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.14.

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.