Schroder Investment Management Group Purchases 2,194,403 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 32.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,021,308 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,194,403 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Western Union were worth $95,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Western Union in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $22,984,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Western Union in the 4th quarter valued at $22,848,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,305,933 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $66,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857,012 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union during the third quarter worth $11,726,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in Western Union in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,895,000. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Union Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WU opened at $10.48 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.84, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04. The Western Union Company has a 12 month low of $10.04 and a 12 month high of $13.95. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.94.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.02). Western Union had a net margin of 22.19% and a return on equity of 96.90%. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, December 13th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 27.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.97%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WU shares. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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 note on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.11.

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.