Stifel Financial Corp Lowers Stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Stifel Financial Corp cut its position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 83.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,985 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 64,374 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp's holdings in Western Union were worth $155,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 52.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,588 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 895 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 1.1% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 80,813 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $979,000 after buying an additional 896 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 31.1% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,316 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 1,024 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 0.5% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 238,876 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,849,000 after buying an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its position in Western Union by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 13,177 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,508 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on WU. UBS Group lowered their target price on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Union from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. 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 note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.63.

Western Union Price Performance

WU traded up $0.03 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.60. 3,880,577 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,180,684. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.86. The Western Union Company has a 1 year low of $10.39 and a 1 year high of $14.19. The business's 50 day moving average price is $10.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.63.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.02. The business 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 business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 23rd. Western Union's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.21%.

Western Union announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, December 13th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors 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.