The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Receives $8.61 Average Target Price from Analysts

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) has been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the twelve analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $8.6111.

WU has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Western Union in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on Western Union from $10.50 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their target price on Western Union from $7.50 to $7.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 29th.

Western Union Trading Down 0.3%

WU opened at $8.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.61. Western Union has a 52 week low of $7.89 and a 52 week high of $12.40. The business’s 50 day moving average is $8.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 66.11% and a net margin of 21.83%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. Western Union has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.650-1.750 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Western Union will post 1.79 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.0%. Western Union’s payout ratio is currently 35.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Union news, CFO Matthew Cagwin acquired 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $8.36 per share, with a total value of $146,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 225,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,886,107.96. The trade was a 8.41% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Devin Mcgranahan acquired 176,470 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.49 per share, for a total transaction of $1,498,230.30. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 913,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,752,431.25. This trade represents a 23.96% 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Western Union by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,983,265 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $307,224,000 after acquiring an additional 4,426,126 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Western Union by 0.4% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,275,287 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $111,778,000 after acquiring an additional 58,070 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in Western Union by 48.5% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 13,240,037 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $111,481,000 after acquiring an additional 4,321,604 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Western Union by 16.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,041,493 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $136,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835,062 shares during the period. Finally, Discerene Group LP grew its holdings in Western Union by 55.1% in the second quarter. Discerene Group LP now owns 10,366,558 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $87,286,000 after purchasing an additional 3,684,366 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

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.