Western Union (NYSE:WU) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Western Union (NYSE:WU) announced its earnings results on Tuesday. The credit services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.02), Zacks reports. Western Union had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 120.39%.

Western Union Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE WU traded up $0.13 on Tuesday, hitting $10.40. 9,257,100 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,911,041. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Western Union has a twelve month low of $10.04 and a twelve month high of $14.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $10.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.30.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.04%. Western Union’s payout ratio is 48.21%.

Western Union declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program 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 buy up to 27.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WU has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays decreased 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 report on Friday, December 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two investment 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.63.

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.