Covestor Ltd Acquires 1,465 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 14.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,751 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Western Union were worth $164,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its holdings in Western Union by 553.5% in the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 143,813 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,011,000 after purchasing an additional 121,808 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in Western Union by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 591,965 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,143,000 after purchasing an additional 89,066 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new position in Western Union in the 1st quarter valued at $12,051,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Western Union by 300.4% in the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 230,970 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,229,000 after purchasing an additional 173,280 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Western Union by 20.9% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 729,451 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,198,000 after purchasing an additional 126,211 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WU has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.67.

Western Union Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:WU traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $12.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 845,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,953,871. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.38, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.90. The Western Union Company has a 1 year low of $10.92 and a 1 year high of $14.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 120.76%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.62%.

About Western Union

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.