State Street Corp Acquires 52,081 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 0.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 12,926,192 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 52,081 shares during the period. State Street Corp’s holdings in Western Union were worth $154,209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 13.5% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 38,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 4,552 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 23.0% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 47,742 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 8,943 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union during the third quarter valued at approximately $11,726,000. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 79.2% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 541,626 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,462,000 after purchasing an additional 239,367 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union during the third quarter valued at approximately $974,000. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of Western Union stock opened at $10.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.80. The Western Union Company has a 12 month low of $10.51 and a 12 month high of $14.19.

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

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

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.74%. Western Union’s payout ratio is presently 48.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WU shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on 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. UBS Group dropped their price target on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Union has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.63.

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.