19,898 Shares in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Bought by denkapparat Operations GmbH

denkapparat Operations GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 19,898 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Union by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,055,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $403,390,000 after acquiring an additional 317,711 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 0.4% during 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $132,384,000 after buying an additional 549,931 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 25,458 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Western Union by 41.7% during 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 buying an additional 1,857,012 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of WU opened at $10.48 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of 3.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $10.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.95. The Western Union Company has a 52-week low of $10.04 and a 52-week high of $13.95.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.02). Western Union had a net margin of 22.19% and a return on equity of 96.90%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.97%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.11.

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.