Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 30.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 783,934 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 343,369 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Western Union worth $9,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Western Union by 7,569.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,905,891 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $194,405,000 after buying an additional 13,724,584 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Western Union by 17.7% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,736,930 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $118,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462,853 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Western Union by 62.8% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,730,450 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $45,586,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439,310 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Western Union by 52.0% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,337,466 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $40,784,000 after buying an additional 1,142,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 5,731.4% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 787,943 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $9,629,000 after acquiring an additional 774,431 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Union Stock Performance

WU traded down $0.05 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $10.81. 1,489,168 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,103,424. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.57, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $11.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.09. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $10.51 and a 1-year high of $14.19.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WU has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Union from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Union presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.86.

Western Union Profile

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.