105,000 Shares in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Purchased by Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc.

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 105,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,113,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Western Union by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,926,192 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $154,209,000 after purchasing an additional 52,081 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Western Union by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,179,698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $85,671,000 after acquiring an additional 25,458 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in Western Union by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,880,800 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $22,438,000 after acquiring an additional 84,579 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Western Union by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,698,559 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,264,000 after acquiring an additional 283,479 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Western Union by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,103,296 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $13,061,000 after acquiring an additional 81,343 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WU shares. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. 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 research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.11.

Western Union Trading Down 0.5 %

WU stock opened at $10.74 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $10.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.14. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $10.04 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 3.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.85.

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 return on equity of 96.90% and a net margin of 22.19%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Western Union’s payout ratio is 34.43%.

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

Western Union Company 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.