Western Union (NYSE:WU) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com cut shares of Western Union (NYSE:WU) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup reiterated a neutral rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $13.14.

Western Union Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WU opened at $11.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $12.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.82. Western Union has a 52-week low of $10.92 and a 52-week high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.01). Western Union had a return on equity of 123.71% and a net margin of 13.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. Western Union’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Union will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Western Union’s payout ratio is currently 55.62%.

Institutional Trading of Western Union

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in 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 valued at $194,405,000 after purchasing an additional 13,724,584 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter valued at $27,925,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 7,460,960 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $88,935,000 after buying an additional 1,627,822 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,462,853 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

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.