Short Interest in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Rises By 22.4%

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) saw a significant increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 27,070,000 shares, an increase of 22.4% from the January 15th total of 22,120,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,250,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.2 days. Currently, 8.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Union

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 50,387 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Western Union by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 238,876 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,849,000 after buying an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in Western Union by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 88,410 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after buying an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in Western Union by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 13,177 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Western Union by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 61,606 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $653,000 after acquiring an additional 1,560 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Union Stock Performance

NYSE WU opened at $10.52 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.20. Western Union has a 52-week low of $10.04 and a 52-week high of $14.19. The company has a fifty day moving average of $10.55 and a 200-day moving average of $11.18.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.02). Western Union had a return on equity of 96.90% and a net margin of 22.19%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Western Union will post 1.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, December 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to buy up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically 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 of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.94%. Western Union’s payout ratio is 34.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WU has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group cut their target price on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.11.

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.