Rhumbline Advisers Purchases 8,820 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 977,396 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,820 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.29% of Western Union worth $10,341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WU. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in shares of Western Union by 1,487.6% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 3,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 2,886 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in Western Union by 662.7% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,722 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 3,234 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Western Union by 267.5% during the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 2,790 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in Western Union by 1,734.7% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,862 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 4,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Western Union by 217.8% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 8,047 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 5,515 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on WU. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Western Union from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $7.50 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Western Union in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $10.50 price objective (down from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.78.

Western Union Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of WU stock opened at $9.28 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 3.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50-day moving average of $9.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.33. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $9.00 and a 1-year high of $13.12.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $983.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 22.19% and a return on equity of 96.90%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.13%. Western Union’s payout ratio is currently 35.07%.

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.