Western Union (NYSE:WU) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $10.19 and last traded at $10.37, with a volume of 3322931 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $10.27.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WU has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group dropped 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. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Union has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.63.

Western Union Stock Up 1.0 %

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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $10.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.50. The company has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a PE ratio of 5.32, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.06%. Western Union’s payout ratio is currently 48.21%.

Western Union declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, December 13th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Union

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WU. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 59,388 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $630,000 after acquiring an additional 5,629 shares during the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC raised its position in Western Union by 828.1% during the 4th quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 93,959 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $996,000 after purchasing an additional 83,835 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Western Union by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 87,929 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $932,000 after buying an additional 7,738 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 283,479 shares during the period. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 6.8% during the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 27,044 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Union Company 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.