Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Lowers Stock Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,583,037 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 55,835 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.76% of Western Union worth $27,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 30.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 348,850 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $4,263,000 after purchasing an additional 82,018 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Western Union during the third quarter valued at approximately $8,124,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Western Union by 293.3% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 198,002 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,362,000 after acquiring an additional 147,658 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in Western Union by 19.0% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 523,676 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $6,247,000 after acquiring an additional 83,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Western Union by 20.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,698,559 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $20,264,000 after acquiring an additional 283,479 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WU shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of 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. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays decreased 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 report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Union from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Union has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.63.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WU traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $10.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,555,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,511,606. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of 5.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.85. The Western Union Company has a twelve month low of $10.19 and a twelve month high of $14.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $10.73 and a 200 day moving average of $11.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.02. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program 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 repurchase up to 27.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. Western Union's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.21%.

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.