Seven Eight Capital LP Purchases Shares of 187,231 The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 187,231 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,288,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Union in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Western Union in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Union in the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Western Union in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 59.9% in the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 1,233 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Stock Performance

NYSE WU opened at $11.89 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.04, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average of $12.06 and a 200-day moving average of $12.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $10.92 and a 1-year high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 123.71% and a net margin of 13.64%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WU shares. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.14.

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.