Brokerages Set The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Price Target at $12.63

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) has earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $12.11.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday.

Western Union Price Performance

Shares of WU opened at $10.60 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 5.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.85. Western Union has a 52-week low of $10.04 and a 52-week high of $14.19. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $10.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.27. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.02). Western Union had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 120.39%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Western Union will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Western Union declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, December 13th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 27.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.87%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 190.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 334,911 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,496,000 after buying an additional 219,798 shares during the last quarter. Inceptionr LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter valued at $328,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter valued at $705,000. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter valued at $186,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,489,079 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $132,384,000 after buying an additional 549,931 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

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.