Scientech Research LLC Takes $449,000 Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Scientech Research LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 36,755 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $449,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Western Union in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Western Union in the first quarter valued at $37,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Western Union by 59.9% in the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Western Union in the 1st quarter valued at $103,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com raised Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Union currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.14.

Western Union Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:WU opened at $12.16 on Monday. The Western Union Company has a 12-month low of $10.92 and a 12-month high of $14.19. The firm has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a PE ratio of 7.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $11.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.63.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 123.71% and a net margin of 13.64%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.73%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.62%.

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.