The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Position Lifted by Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 91.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,478 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 26,467 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Western Union were worth $588,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WU. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Western Union by 52.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,588 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 895 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 238,876 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,849,000 after acquiring an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Western Union by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 88,410 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Western Union by 12.9% in the third quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 13,177 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,508 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 89.3% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,226 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Union from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Union has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.63.

Western Union Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WU traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $10.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,528,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,355,831. The firm has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.85. The Western Union Company has a 1 year low of $10.17 and a 1 year 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. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $10.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.35.

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 given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. Western Union's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.21%.

Western Union announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.