Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Lowers Stock Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,638,872 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 191,872 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.78% of Western Union worth $31,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WU. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Western Union by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 599,797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,156,000 after acquiring an additional 12,825 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Union by 25.7% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 60,046 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $716,000 after buying an additional 12,283 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 33.4% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 26,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 6,554 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 103.0% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 106,800 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after purchasing an additional 54,200 shares during the period. Finally, Clifford Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Western Union by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 58,129 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $710,000 after buying an additional 2,711 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WU. StockNews.com upgraded Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price 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. lowered their price objective on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.14.

Western Union Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of WU stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Monday, reaching $11.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 509,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,971,891. The Western Union Company has a one year low of $10.92 and a one year high of $14.19. The company has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $11.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 123.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate 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 Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.88%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.67%.

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.