State Street Corp Has $154.21 Million Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,926,192 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 52,081 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned approximately 3.83% of Western Union worth $154,209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Western Union in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Western Union by 52.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,588 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 895 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Western Union by 89.3% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,226 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Western Union by 31.1% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,316 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Western Union during the 3rd quarter worth about $60,000. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WU. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. UBS Group lowered their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised Western Union from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.63.

Western Union Price Performance

Shares of Western Union stock traded down $0.14 on Friday, reaching $10.76. 3,365,730 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,946,479. The firm's 50 day moving average is $11.10 and its 200-day moving average is $11.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. 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 cap of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 5.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.86.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.03 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.39% and a net margin of 16.07%. Western Union's revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.74%. Western Union's payout ratio is 48.21%.

Western Union declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, December 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to repurchase up to 27.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign 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.