17,534 Shares in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Acquired by Aigen Investment Management LP

Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 17,534 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $186,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WU. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Western Union by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,305,933 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $66,843,000 after buying an additional 1,857,012 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Western Union during the third quarter valued at about $11,726,000. Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union in the third quarter valued at about $8,124,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Western Union by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,489,079 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $132,384,000 after purchasing an additional 549,931 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Western Union during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,663,000. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.11.

Western Union Stock Up 5.0 %

NYSE WU opened at $11.62 on Monday. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $10.04 and a 1-year high of $14.19. The company has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.25, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $10.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.02). Western Union had a return on equity of 96.90% and a net margin of 22.19%. Equities analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Western Union’s payout ratio is 34.43%.

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