Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Grows Stock Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 15.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 80,808 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,903 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Western Union were worth $963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Western Union by 969.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 765,613 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,192,000 after buying an additional 694,026 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Western Union by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,299,090 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,302,000 after buying an additional 244,286 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $527,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $15,294,000 after buying an additional 83,842 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its position in Western Union by 132.4% in the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 143,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,898,000 after purchasing an additional 82,029 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Stock Performance

NYSE:WU opened at $13.47 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.61. The company has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.85. The Western Union Company has a 52 week low of $10.37 and a 52 week high of $14.19.

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

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid 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 dividend yield of 6.98%. Western Union’s payout ratio is currently 55.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy P. Murphy bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $12.85 per share, for a total transaction of $128,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 56,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $722,234.25. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Monness Crespi & Hardt assumed coverage on Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.45.

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.