Natixis Reduces Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jun 11th, 2023

Natixis lessened its position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU – Get Rating) by 19.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 286,709 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 68,291 shares during the period. Natixis owned 0.07% of Western Union worth $3,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 2,170 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in Western Union during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Western Union by 157.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Western Union by 38.5% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,165 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accurate Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Western Union in the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WU shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Western Union from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Western Union from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. Barclays decreased their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 13th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Western Union from $15.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Western Union in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.70.

Western Union Price Performance

Shares of Western Union stock opened at $11.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.45, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.85. The Western Union Company has a one year low of $10.07 and a one year high of $17.42.

Western Union (NYSE:WU – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The credit services provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $997.07 million. Western Union had a return on equity of 128.52% and a net margin of 17.65%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 16th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 15th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.97%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.00%.

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.