Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV Sells 7,936 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV reduced its position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 82,948 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 7,936 shares during the period. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV’s holdings in Western Union were worth $879,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 50,387 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in Western Union by 0.5% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 238,876 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,849,000 after acquiring an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its position in Western Union by 12.9% in the third quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 13,177 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,508 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in Western Union by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 61,606 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $653,000 after acquiring an additional 1,560 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on WU. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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. Finally, 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 report on Monday, December 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.11.

Western Union Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WU opened at $10.63 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.54 and a 200 day moving average of $11.13. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.85. The Western Union Company has a 12 month low of $10.04 and a 12 month high of $14.19. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 22.19% and a return on equity of 96.90%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.84%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.43%.

Western Union declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, December 13th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 27.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management 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.