The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Plans $0.24 Quarterly Dividend

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 4th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of 0.235 per share by the credit services provider on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.81%.

Western Union has a payout ratio of 49.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Western Union to earn $1.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.94 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 51.4%.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of WU opened at $10.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.47, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.85. Western Union has a twelve month low of $10.04 and a twelve month 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’s 50 day moving average price is $10.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.27.

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

Western Union declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, December 13th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 27.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WU shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.22.

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.