Western Union (WU) Scheduled to Post Quarterly Earnings on Wednesday

Western Union (NYSE:WU) will announce its earnings results after the market closes on Wednesday, April 24th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.40 per share for the quarter. Western Union has set its FY24 guidance at $1.65-1.75 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance at 1.650-1.750 EPS.Investors interested in registering for the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. Western Union had a return on equity of 113.63% and a net margin of 14.37%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. Western Union’s revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect Western Union to post $2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $2 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Western Union Stock Up 0.7 %

WU stock opened at $13.02 on Monday. Western Union has a fifty-two week low of $10.37 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19. The business’s 50-day moving average is $13.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.75, a P/E/G ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.22%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is 55.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Union

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 acquired at an average price of $12.85 per share, for a total transaction of $128,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 56,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $722,234.25. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Union

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WU. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 155.3% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,576,970 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $90,565,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000,880 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,774,680 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $617,958,000 after acquiring an additional 3,522,420 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 106.3% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,550,664 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $61,890,000 after acquiring an additional 2,859,852 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,041,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,856,481 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $315,890,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592,331 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WU has been the topic of several recent research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt initiated coverage on Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.25.

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.