StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Western Union (NYSE:WU)

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Western Union (NYSE:WU – Get Rating) in a research note released on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

WU has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $10.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a sell rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $14.23.

Western Union Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:WU opened at $10.76 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $13.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.75. Western Union has a 52 week low of $10.07 and a 52 week high of $19.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.48. The stock has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.60 and a beta of 0.87.

Western Union (NYSE:WU – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 151.54% and a net margin of 20.35%. The firm’s revenue was down 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Western Union will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 16th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.74%. Western Union’s payout ratio is 40.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Union

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 460.8% during the 3rd quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,585 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 89.4% during the 3rd quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 1,941 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 916 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 7,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 2,170 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 157.6% during the 4th quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,540 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,554 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.66% of the company’s stock.

About Western Union

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The Western Union Co is a holding company, which engages in the provision of money transfer and payment services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer-to-Consumer, Business Solutions, and Other. The Consumer-to-Consumer segment facilitates money transfers between two consumers. The Business Solutions segment offers payment and foreign exchange solutions, cross-border, and cross-currency transactions for small and medium size enterprises and other organizations and individuals.