Aigen Investment Management LP Takes $186,000 Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 17,534 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $186,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WU. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,926,192 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $154,209,000 after acquiring an additional 52,081 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,489,079 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $132,384,000 after purchasing an additional 549,931 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Western Union by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,179,698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $85,671,000 after purchasing an additional 25,458 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Western Union by 41.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,305,933 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $66,843,000 after buying an additional 1,857,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Western Union by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,698,559 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,264,000 after buying an additional 283,479 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WU has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays cut their price target on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Union presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.11.

Western Union Stock Up 5.0 %

NYSE:WU opened at $11.62 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of 4.25, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.20. The Western Union Company has a 52-week low of $10.04 and a 52-week high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.02). Western Union had a return on equity of 96.90% and a net margin of 22.19%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, December 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to buy up to 27.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.09%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.43%.

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.