Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Stock Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Bank of Nova Scotia trimmed its position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU – Get Rating) by 32.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 58,833 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 28,811 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Western Union were worth $810,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WU. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Western Union by 7,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 2,170 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Western Union by 157.6% during the fourth quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,540 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Western Union by 38.5% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,165 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 879 shares during the last quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Union in the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 52.3% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 5,904 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 2,027 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Western Union from $15.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Western Union from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 13th. Wolfe Research upgraded Western Union from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Western Union from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.70.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WU opened at $12.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.06 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $11.29 and its 200 day moving average is $12.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.45. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $10.07 and a 1-year high of $18.23.

Western Union (NYSE:WU – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The credit services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.07 million. Western Union had a net margin of 17.65% and a return on equity of 128.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 16th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 15th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.00%.

About Western Union

(Get Rating)

The Western Union Co is a holding company, which engages in the provision of money transfer and payment services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer-to-Consumer, Business Solutions, and Other. The Consumer-to-Consumer segment facilitates money transfers between two consumers. The Business Solutions segment offers payment and foreign exchange solutions, cross-border, and cross-currency transactions for small and medium size enterprises and other organizations and individuals.