Great Lakes Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in The Western Union Company $WU

Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 143,164 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,102,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. RiverFront Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Union by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 28,662 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Western Union by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,331 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,336 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Western Union by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 239,428 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,398 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC grew its holdings in Western Union by 6.6% during the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 23,382 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $204,000 after purchasing an additional 1,454 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Western Union by 23.2% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,020 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 1,509 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WU has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Western Union from $8.50 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of Western Union in a report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Western Union from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Western Union from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Western Union from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and eight have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $7.55.

Western Union Stock Performance

NYSE:WU opened at $7.31 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $7.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 0.47. The Western Union Company has a 12-month low of $6.27 and a 12-month high of $10.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.11). Western Union had a return on equity of 50.89% and a net margin of 9.79%.The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Western Union has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.250-1.350 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 16th. Western Union’s payout ratio is 76.42%.

Western Union Profile

Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments. The company enables individuals and businesses to send and receive money through a variety of channels, including its vast agent network, online platforms, and mobile applications. Core services include person-to-person money transfers, business-to-business cross-border payments, bill payment services and prepaid card programs.

Through its digital offerings, Western Union provides customers with the ability to initiate transfers via its website and mobile app, as well as track transactions in real time.