Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. Invests $922,000 in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 86,937 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $922,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Western Union by 30.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 348,850 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $4,263,000 after acquiring an additional 82,018 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Union during the third quarter valued at $8,124,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 293.3% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 198,002 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,362,000 after purchasing an additional 147,658 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 523,676 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $6,247,000 after acquiring an additional 83,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,698,559 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $20,264,000 after purchasing an additional 283,479 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company's stock.

Western Union Price Performance

Western Union stock traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $10.52. 3,205,637 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,862,034. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The Western Union Company has a twelve month low of $10.19 and a twelve month high of $14.19. The company has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $10.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.48.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. Western Union's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WU has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Western Union from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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. UBS Group reduced their target price on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.63.

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.