Captrust Financial Advisors Sells 1,047 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Captrust Financial Advisors lessened its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 4.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 21,316 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,047 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Western Union were worth $254,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WU. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in Western Union by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,736,930 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $118,985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,462,853 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Western Union by 62.8% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,730,450 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $45,586,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439,310 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Western Union by 52.0% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,337,466 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,142,400 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Western Union by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,880,800 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $22,438,000 after acquiring an additional 84,579 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Western Union by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,034,943 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $12,647,000 after acquiring an additional 39,739 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on WU. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.63.

Western Union Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WU opened at $10.76 on Monday. The Western Union Company has a 52-week low of $10.51 and a 52-week high of $14.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $11.10 and a 200 day moving average of $11.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 5.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.02. Western Union had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 120.39%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.74%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.21%.

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.