Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Sells 3,154 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lowered its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,798 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 3,154 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Western Union were worth $450,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 841,034 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,057,000 after acquiring an additional 138,915 shares in the last quarter. Insight Folios Inc bought a new stake in Western Union during the 1st quarter valued at about $5,388,000. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Western Union by 24.2% in the first quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 559,248 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,818,000 after buying an additional 109,014 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 5.5% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,252,897 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,516,000 after buying an additional 65,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Western Union by 7,569.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,905,891 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $194,405,000 after acquiring an additional 13,724,584 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Trading Up 2.4 %

Western Union stock opened at $12.18 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.65. The Western Union Company has a 52-week low of $10.92 and a 52-week high of $14.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98. The company has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.86.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 123.71% and a net margin of 13.64%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WU shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.14.

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.