First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. acquired a new stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU – Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 11,391 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $134,000.
A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WU. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Western Union by 70.3% during the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 16,078,188 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $179,111,000 after purchasing an additional 6,638,884 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Western Union by 155.3% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,576,970 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $90,565,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000,880 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Union by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,774,680 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $617,958,000 after acquiring an additional 3,522,420 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 106.3% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,550,664 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $61,890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,859,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Western Union in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,041,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.83% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research firms have issued reports on WU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Western Union from $11.50 to $12.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 24th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Truist Financial raised their target price on Western Union from $10.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Western Union from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.81.
Western Union Stock Performance
Shares of WU opened at $13.07 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s fifty day moving average is $12.31 and its 200-day moving average is $11.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49. The Western Union Company has a 12 month low of $10.07 and a 12 month high of $14.84.
Western Union (NYSE:WU – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The credit services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.12. Western Union had a net margin of 17.12% and a return on equity of 116.87%. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Western Union Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is 47.72%.
Western Union Company Profile
The Western Union Company provides money movement and payment services worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Consumer-to-Consumer and Business Solutions. The Consumer-to-Consumer 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.
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