SummerHaven Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,393 shares during the quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Western Union were worth $665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 6,727 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its position in Western Union by 50.6% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 122,956 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,303,000 after buying an additional 41,317 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Western Union during the fourth quarter valued at $705,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Western Union by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 480,543 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,094,000 after acquiring an additional 76,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Western Union by 145.1% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 72,795 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $786,000 after acquiring an additional 43,095 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WU shares. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $10.50 price target (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of Western Union from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $7.50 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.78.

Western Union Stock Down 1.4%

WU opened at $9.12 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.34, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $9.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.30. The Western Union Company has a twelve month low of $9.00 and a twelve month high of $13.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04.

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

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is 35.07%.

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.