The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Shares Sold by State of Tennessee Department of Treasury

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury trimmed its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 141,541 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 3,994 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury’s holdings in Western Union were worth $1,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Western Union by 202.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,661,732 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $60,014,000 after purchasing an additional 3,792,683 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 32.1% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,021,308 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $95,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,194,403 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union in the fourth quarter valued at about $22,984,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Western Union during the fourth quarter worth about $22,848,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Western Union by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,305,933 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $66,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857,012 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Union Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of WU opened at $10.11 on Wednesday. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $9.00 and a 1-year high of $13.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.64. The stock has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.69.

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

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.30%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WU shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Western Union from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $7.50 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.50 target price (down from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.78.

Western Union 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.