Xponance Inc. Has $594,000 Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Xponance Inc. lowered its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,804 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,053 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Western Union were worth $594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Union during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 92.2% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,366 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 1,092.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,462 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 5,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Union during the 3rd quarter worth about $83,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WU has been the topic of several research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt initiated coverage on Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.45.

Western Union Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE WU opened at $13.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of 7.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 0.85. The Western Union Company has a one year low of $10.37 and a one year high of $14.19. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.05. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.76% and a net margin of 14.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.62%.

Insider Activity at Western Union

In other news, Director Timothy P. Murphy acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 56,205 shares in the company, valued at $722,234.25. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.