JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Western Union (NYSE:WU) Price Target to $14.00

Western Union (NYSE:WU) had its price objective lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $13.00 to $14.00 in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an underweight rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

WU has been the subject of several other research reports. William Blair reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Wolfe Research reiterated an underperform rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Thursday. Monness Crespi & Hardt assumed coverage on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a neutral rating for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $13.45.

Western Union Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WU opened at $13.47 on Thursday. Western Union has a fifty-two week low of $10.37 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19. The stock has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.97, a PEG ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.61.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.05. Western Union had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 120.76%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Western Union will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy P. Murphy purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.85 per share, with a total value of $128,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 56,205 shares in the company, valued at $722,234.25. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Western Union by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 17,854,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $235,324,000 after purchasing an additional 408,661 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,498,861 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $151,555,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,247 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,882,154 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $130,247,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439,595 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,087,155 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $96,399,000 after acquiring an additional 160,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 7,460,960 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $88,935,000 after acquiring an additional 1,627,822 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.