Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Has $39,000 Stock Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 89.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,226 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Western Union were worth $39,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $194,405,000 after acquiring an additional 13,724,584 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its position 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 last quarter. Discerene Group LP increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 710,873 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WU opened at $11.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98. The Western Union Company has a 12-month low of $10.92 and a 12-month high of $14.19. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.50.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 123.71% and a net margin of 13.64%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.93%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WU. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com raised Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.14.

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.