Delta Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Delta Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 10,477 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $111,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in Western Union by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 22,298 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $236,000 after acquiring an additional 982 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Western Union by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 50,387 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $534,000 after acquiring an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 14,233 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 1,493 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 61,606 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $653,000 after buying an additional 1,560 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 45,825 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 1,565 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on WU. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered Western Union from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $7.50 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $10.50 target price (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.78.

Western Union Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE WU opened at $9.85 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.61, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $10.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.47. The Western Union Company has a 52-week low of $9.00 and a 52-week high of $13.12.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $983.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 96.90% and a net margin of 22.19%. Western Union’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.07%.

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.