Van ECK Associates Corp Grows Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 403,643 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 49,036 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.12% of Western Union worth $4,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Western Union by 2,062.3% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 24,348 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 23,222 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Union in the 3rd quarter worth about $401,000. Insight Folios Inc grew its position in Western Union by 11.0% during the third quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 466,494 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $5,565,000 after buying an additional 46,087 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in 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, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in Western Union by 12.1% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 185,573 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,274,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised Western Union from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.86.

Western Union Price Performance

NYSE:WU traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $10.70. The stock had a trading volume of 5,298,913 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,092,465. The Western Union Company has a one year low of $10.63 and a one year high of $14.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $11.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.87.

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 firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.39% and a net margin of 16.07%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

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.