DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Raises Stock Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 22.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 212,348 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,099 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned approximately 0.06% of Western Union worth $2,519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 134.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,956 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,123 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union during the third quarter worth about $29,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 92.2% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,366 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 1,715.3% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,685 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 3,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Western Union by 1,092.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,462 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 5,004 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Union Stock Down 0.8 %

Western Union stock opened at $13.19 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.61. The company has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.85, a PEG ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $10.37 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. Western Union had a net margin of 14.37% and a return on equity of 113.63%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.13%. Western Union’s payout ratio is currently 55.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Union

In other Western Union news, Director Timothy P. Murphy purchased 10,000 shares of Western Union stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.85 per share, with a total value of $128,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 56,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $722,234.25. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on WU. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Monness Crespi & Hardt started coverage on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.25.

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.