Western Union (NYSE:WU) Price Target Cut to $9.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Western Union (NYSE:WU) had its price objective lowered by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $10.00 to $9.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underweight” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential downside of 19.69% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.20.

Western Union Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE WU opened at $11.21 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $10.61 and its 200-day moving average is $11.27. The stock has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.85. Western Union has a twelve month low of $10.04 and a twelve month high of $14.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.02). Western Union had a return on equity of 120.39% and a net margin of 16.07%. Equities research analysts predict that Western Union will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Western Union declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Friday, December 13th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in 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 often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Union

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Western Union by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,926,192 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $154,209,000 after acquiring an additional 52,081 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Western Union by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,489,079 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $132,384,000 after acquiring an additional 549,931 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Western Union by 0.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 25,458 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Western Union by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,305,933 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $66,843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,857,012 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Western Union by 4.7% in 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. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.