The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) has earned an average rating of “Reduce” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eight have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $12.63.

WU has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on 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 upgraded Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th.

Western Union Price Performance

WU opened at $10.34 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $10.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.30. Western Union has a 1 year low of $10.17 and a 1 year high of $14.19.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.09%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.21%.

Western Union declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Friday, December 13th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Union

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WU. State Street Corp boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 52,081 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Western Union by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,179,698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $85,671,000 after purchasing an additional 25,458 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 84,579 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake 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 worth $20,264,000 after acquiring an additional 283,479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Western Union by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,103,296 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $13,061,000 after acquiring an additional 81,343 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

About Western Union

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.