Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Takes Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 61,510 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $734,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LSV Asset Management grew its position 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 worth $118,985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,462,853 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Western Union by 62.8% during the second 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 last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Western Union by 52.0% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,337,466 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $40,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142,400 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Union in the 3rd quarter valued at $11,726,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Western Union by 5,731.4% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 787,943 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $9,629,000 after acquiring an additional 774,431 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of WU stock traded down $0.04 on Tuesday, hitting $11.15. 8,050,423 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,140,374. The firm's 50 day moving average is $11.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.78. The Western Union Company has a one year low of $10.51 and a one year high of $14.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 5.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) 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. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 120.39%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd. Western Union's payout ratio is presently 48.21%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WU has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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. 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 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.63.

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.