Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 11,308 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 456,340 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 11,308 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Western Union were worth $5,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WU. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Western Union during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in Western Union during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 5,004 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Union in the third quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 23.2% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,793 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 1,278 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WU. Barclays upped their target price on Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt began coverage on Western Union in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy P. Murphy purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $12.85 per share, with a total value of $128,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 56,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $722,234.25. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Price Performance

Western Union stock opened at $13.37 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.91, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.61. The Western Union Company has a 12 month low of $10.92 and a 12 month high of $14.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.76% and a net margin of 14.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.03%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.62%.

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.