The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Shares Bought by Quantinno Capital Management LP

Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,552 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Western Union were worth $457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Western Union by 30.7% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 348,850 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,263,000 after purchasing an additional 82,018 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union during the third quarter worth $8,124,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Western Union by 293.3% in the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 198,002 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,362,000 after buying an additional 147,658 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Western Union by 19.0% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 523,676 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,247,000 after acquiring an additional 83,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN grew its stake in Western Union by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 704,054 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,399,000 after acquiring an additional 74,742 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WU has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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. StockNews.com raised Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays reduced their price target on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.63.

Western Union Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE WU opened at $10.76 on Friday. The Western Union Company has a 12 month low of $10.51 and a 12 month high of $14.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.52, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $11.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 120.39%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.74%. Western Union’s payout ratio is 48.21%.

Western Union announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, December 13th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.