Elevated Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 5,629 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Elevated Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 59,388 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,629 shares during the quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Western Union were worth $630,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WU. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 52.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 895 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Western Union by 31.1% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,316 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in Western Union by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 238,876 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Western Union by 1.4% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 88,410 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 12.9% during the third quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 13,177 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,508 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.63.

Western Union Stock Performance

WU stock opened at $10.37 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The Western Union Company has a twelve month low of $10.19 and a twelve month high of $14.19. The business’s fifty day moving average is $10.75 and its 200-day moving average is $11.50. The company has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.06%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.21%.

Western Union announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, December 13th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Western Union Company 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.