Raymond James & Associates Decreases Stock Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Raymond James & Associates reduced its stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 31.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,303 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 12,074 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Western Union were worth $309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Scotia Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Western Union in the first quarter valued at about $252,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 615.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 88,240 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $984,000 after purchasing an additional 75,905 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 73.6% in the first quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 73,721 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $822,000 after purchasing an additional 31,255 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Western Union in the second quarter valued at about $161,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Western Union in the first quarter valued at about $10,912,000. 88.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Union Price Performance

NYSE:WU opened at $11.75 on Friday. The Western Union Company has a one year low of $10.07 and a one year high of $14.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a PE ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $12.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.12.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The credit services provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 111.74% and a net margin of 17.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on WU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 in a report on Thursday, July 27th. StockNews.com began coverage on Western Union in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, October 26th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Western Union in a report on Friday, October 20th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Western Union from $11.50 to $12.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.44.

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.