Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. Takes $922,000 Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 86,937 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $922,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 52.9% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Western Union by 89.3% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,226 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Western Union by 31.1% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,316 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 1,024 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Western Union during the third quarter worth approximately $60,000. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of 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. Two 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.63.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of WU stock opened at $10.53 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $10.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.48. The Western Union Company has a one year low of $10.19 and a one year high of $14.19.

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

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. Western Union’s payout ratio is presently 48.21%.

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

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.