American International Group Inc. Trims Stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

American International Group Inc. lowered its position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 492,629 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 35,541 shares during the quarter. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in Western Union were worth $5,872,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WU. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Western Union by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,498,861 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $151,555,000 after buying an additional 1,088,247 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Western Union by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,087,155 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $96,399,000 after buying an additional 160,735 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Western Union by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 7,460,960 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $88,935,000 after buying an additional 1,627,822 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Western Union by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 6,839,743 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $90,148,000 after buying an additional 605,620 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Western Union by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,342,193 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $83,590,000 after buying an additional 689,254 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on WU. Monness Crespi & Hardt started coverage on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Union presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.61.

Western Union Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE:WU opened at $12.34 on Friday. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $10.92 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.82.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.05. Western Union had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 120.76%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.