Citigroup Inc. Decreases Stock Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Citigroup Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 7.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,153,425 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 93,241 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.31% of Western Union worth $12,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norwood Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Norwood Financial Corp now owns 3,785 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Western Union by 67.8% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,312 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 2,147 shares in the last quarter. Ellevest Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Union by 166.0% during the 1st quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 7,225 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 4,509 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Finally, State of Wyoming increased its position in Western Union by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 7,458 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 1,131 shares during the period. 88.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Union Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of WU opened at $12.23 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $11.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.86. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $10.07 and a 1-year high of $15.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The credit services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 116.87% and a net margin of 17.12%. Western Union’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. Analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.69%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on WU. Citigroup raised their target price on Western Union from $11.50 to $12.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten 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 price target of $12.81.

Western Union Profile

The Western Union Company provides money movement and payment services worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Consumer-to-Consumer and Business Solutions. The Consumer-to-Consumer 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.