Susquehanna Lowers Western Union (NYSE:WU) Price Target to $12.00

Western Union (NYSE:WU) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at Susquehanna from $13.00 to $12.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Susquehanna’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 12.62% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays cut their target price on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Union presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.20.

Western Union Price Performance

NYSE:WU traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $10.66. The stock had a trading volume of 6,044,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,950,671. Western Union has a one year low of $10.04 and a one year high of $14.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $10.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.02). Western Union had a return on equity of 120.39% and a net margin of 16.07%. As a group, analysts expect that Western Union will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, December 13th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Western Union

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WU. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,305,933 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $66,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857,012 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Union during the third quarter worth $11,726,000. Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Union in the 3rd quarter valued at $8,124,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Union in the 3rd quarter worth $6,190,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Western Union during the third quarter valued at about $3,663,000. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.