Principle Wealth Partners LLC Sells 1,924 Shares of The Western Union Company $WU

Principle Wealth Partners LLC lowered its position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 9.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,533 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,924 shares during the period. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Western Union were worth $148,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WU. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 188.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,803 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 2,483 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 47.2% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 122,813 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,299,000 after acquiring an additional 39,382 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 45.5% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 68,622 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 21,456 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union in the first quarter valued at approximately $572,000. Finally, Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union in the first quarter valued at approximately $168,000. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Union

In other news, CEO Devin Mcgranahan purchased 176,470 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.49 per share, with a total value of $1,498,230.30. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 913,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,752,431.25. This represents a 23.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew Cagwin purchased 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.36 per share, with a total value of $146,300.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 225,611 shares in the company, valued at $1,886,107.96. This trade represents a 8.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays set a $8.00 price target on shares of Western Union and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Western Union from $10.50 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Western Union from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $9.00 price target for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $8.55.

Western Union Price Performance

WU opened at $8.98 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $8.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. The Western Union Company has a 52 week low of $7.85 and a 52 week high of $11.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 3.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.61.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.04. Western Union had a net margin of 18.80% and a return on equity of 60.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Union has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.650-1.750 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.5%. Western Union’s payout ratio is 35.61%.

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.