LSV Asset Management Grows Stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 17.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,736,930 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,462,853 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management owned about 2.88% of Western Union worth $118,985,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Western Union by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 841,034 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $10,057,000 after buying an additional 138,915 shares during the period. Insight Folios Inc bought a new position in shares of Western Union in the 1st quarter worth $5,388,000. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 24.2% during the 1st quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 559,248 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $7,818,000 after purchasing an additional 109,014 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Western Union by 5.5% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,252,897 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $17,516,000 after purchasing an additional 65,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Western Union by 7,569.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,905,891 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $194,405,000 after purchasing an additional 13,724,584 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WU. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Western Union from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $13.14.

Western Union Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WU remained flat at $12.15 during midday trading on Monday. 2,528,215 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,997,477. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $12.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.79. The Western Union Company has a 1 year low of $10.92 and a 1 year high of $14.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.19, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.86.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.06 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 123.71%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Western Union's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.62%.

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.