The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Receives Consensus Rating of "Reduce" from Brokerages

Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eight have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $12.11.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WU. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of 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 raised shares of Western Union from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on 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. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday.

Western Union Trading Down 5.5 %

NYSE WU traded down $0.62 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $10.60. 8,265,573 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,684,605. Western Union has a 52 week low of $10.04 and a 52 week high of $14.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $10.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 3.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.02). Western Union had a net margin of 22.19% and a return on equity of 96.90%. Analysts forecast that Western Union will post 1.8 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, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Western Union's payout ratio is 34.43%.

Western Union declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, December 13th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Western Union

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,305,933 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $66,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857,012 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Western Union in the third quarter worth approximately $11,726,000. Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Western Union during the third quarter worth $8,124,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Western Union by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,489,079 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $132,384,000 after acquiring an additional 549,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Union in the 3rd quarter valued at $6,190,000. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.