GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases 38,916 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 2,948.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,236 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,916 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Western Union were worth $426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Western Union by 69.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 111,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after acquiring an additional 46,021 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Western Union by 93.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 83,431 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $884,000 after purchasing an additional 40,310 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew its position in Western Union by 375.9% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 57,324 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $608,000 after purchasing an additional 45,278 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Western Union in the 4th quarter valued at $6,228,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Western Union during the 4th quarter worth $144,000. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WU has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Western Union in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.50 price objective (down from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Western Union from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $7.50 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.78.

Western Union Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE WU opened at $8.46 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.15, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a 50-day moving average of $9.56 and a 200-day moving average of $10.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The Western Union Company has a 12 month low of $8.40 and a 12 month 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $983.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 77.19% and a net margin of 22.08%. Western Union’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.12%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.