Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,983,265 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,426,126 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 8.58% of Western Union worth $307,224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WU. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Western Union during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky acquired a new position in shares of Western Union in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 662.7% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,722 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 3,234 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in shares of Western Union by 1,734.7% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,862 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 4,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new position in Western Union during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
WU has been the subject of several recent research reports. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Western Union from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $10.50 price target (down from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.78.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on WU
Western Union Price Performance
NYSE WU opened at $10.14 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.69. The Western Union Company has a 52-week low of $9.00 and a 52-week high of $13.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.10.
Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $983.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 96.90% and a net margin of 22.19%. Equities research analysts predict that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Western Union Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.27%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Western Union's dividend payout ratio is 34.43%.
About Western Union
(
Free Report)
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.
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