Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 12,581 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 971.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,876 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,581 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Western Union were worth $170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Western Union in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 52.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 895 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Union during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 89.3% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,226 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 59.9% during the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,233 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WU shares. StockNews.com upgraded Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.86.

Western Union Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WU opened at $11.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.36. The Western Union Company has a twelve month low of $10.92 and a twelve month high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 123.71% and a net margin of 13.64%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Company Profile

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.