LSV Asset Management Grows Stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,087,155 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 160,735 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management owned 2.22% of Western Union worth $96,399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WU. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in Western Union by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 56,476 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in Western Union by 0.5% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 169,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,235,000 after buying an additional 842 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Union by 0.5% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 197,250 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,600,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Western Union by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,793 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 1,278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 106,623 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WU has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Union presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.61.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of Western Union stock traded up $0.37 on Friday, hitting $13.37. 4,053,585 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,757,889. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a PE ratio of 7.92, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.84. The Western Union Company has a 1 year low of $10.92 and a 1 year high of $14.19. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.62.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 120.76% and a net margin of 14.12%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. Western Union’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Western Union’s payout ratio is 55.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Union

In other Western Union news, Director Timothy P. Murphy purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $12.85 per share, for a total transaction of $128,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 56,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $722,234.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.85% 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.