Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires New Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 3,900 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $46,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in Western Union in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 1,092.6% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,462 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 5,004 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $83,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Western Union by 23.2% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,793 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in Western Union by 59.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 11,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 4,324 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Price Performance

NYSE WU opened at $13.47 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of 7.97, a P/E/G ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.85. The Western Union Company has a twelve month low of $10.37 and a twelve month high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.05. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.76% and a net margin of 14.12%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. Western Union’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.98%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on WU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt assumed coverage on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy P. Murphy acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were purchased 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Western Union 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.