The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Position Lifted by Alaska Permanent Fund Corp

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp raised its stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 200,742 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,142 shares during the quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Western Union were worth $2,393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 59.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 11,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 4,324 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 134.8% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,956 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union during the third quarter worth $667,000. Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union during the third quarter worth $209,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 92.2% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,366 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy P. Murphy bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.85 per share, for a total transaction of $128,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 56,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $722,234.25. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Two investment 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.35.

Western Union Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WU traded down $0.50 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $13.09. 1,331,869 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,393,870. The Western Union Company has a 52 week low of $10.37 and a 52 week high of $14.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.61. The company has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.05. Western Union had a net margin of 14.37% and a return on equity of 113.63%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.18%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.95%.

Western Union 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.