Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Has $2.45 Million Stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 205,562 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 35,680 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Western Union were worth $2,452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union during the third quarter worth $25,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in Western Union by 52.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 895 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Western Union by 89.3% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,226 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Western Union by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,316 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Western Union in the 3rd quarter valued at about $60,000. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays cut 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 report on Friday, December 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.63.

Western Union Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WU opened at $11.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.72, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.86. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $10.51 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.39% and a net margin of 16.07%. Western Union’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.21%.

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

About Western Union

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.