River Global Investors LLP Has $1.40 Million Stock Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

River Global Investors LLP reduced its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 117,851 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 11,404 shares during the period. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in Western Union were worth $1,404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WU. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Western Union during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $300,000. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in Western Union by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,087,155 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $96,399,000 after buying an additional 160,735 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Western Union by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 33,381 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 2,551 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Western Union by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 948,462 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,306,000 after acquiring an additional 11,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Union during the fourth quarter valued at $262,000. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Western Union

In other Western Union news, Director Timothy P. Murphy bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $12.85 per share, with a total value of $128,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 56,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $722,234.25. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Western Union Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE WU traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $13.37. The stock had a trading volume of 4,053,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,757,889. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $10.92 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19. The firm has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.61.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.76% and a net margin of 14.12%. The company’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 7.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Evercore ISI lifted 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. Barclays increased their price target on Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.61.

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.