Mackenzie Financial Corp Purchases 140,827 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 115.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 262,827 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 140,827 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned 0.07% of Western Union worth $3,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Western Union by 969.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 765,613 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,192,000 after acquiring an additional 694,026 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 11.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,299,090 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,302,000 after purchasing an additional 244,286 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp bought a new position in Western Union in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $527,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Western Union by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,160,429 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $15,294,000 after buying an additional 83,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its position in Western Union by 132.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 143,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,898,000 after buying an additional 82,029 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WU. Barclays boosted their target price on Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt began coverage on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, 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 research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Union news, Director Timothy P. Murphy acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.85 per share, for a total transaction of $128,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 56,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $722,234.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Stock Up 2.2 %

Western Union stock opened at $13.30 on Tuesday. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $10.37 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.92, a PEG ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.60.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. Western Union had a net margin of 14.37% and a return on equity of 113.63%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.07%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.95%.

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.