DGS Capital Management LLC Sells 897 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

DGS Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,857 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 897 shares during the quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Western Union were worth $344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 969.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 765,613 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,192,000 after purchasing an additional 694,026 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Western Union by 11.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,299,090 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,302,000 after acquiring an additional 244,286 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp bought a new position in shares of Western Union in the third quarter worth about $527,000. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,078,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,160,429 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $15,294,000 after purchasing an additional 83,842 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WU has been the subject of several research reports. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Western Union in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.25.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of WU opened at $12.70 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.61. The Western Union Company has a 12 month low of $10.37 and a 12 month high of $14.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.72 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 113.63% and a net margin of 14.37%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that The Western Union Company will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.40%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Union news, Director Timothy P. Murphy acquired 10,000 shares of Western Union stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.85 per share, for a total transaction of $128,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 56,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $722,234.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

About Western Union

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.