Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Western Union (NYSE:WU) Stock Price

Western Union (NYSE:WU) had its price target cut by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $9.00 to $7.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential downside of 13.58% from the stock’s previous close.

WU has been the topic of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Western Union in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $9.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on 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. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group set a $8.50 target price on Western Union and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Union has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.83.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of WU stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.10. The stock had a trading volume of 12,432,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,219,973. The business’s fifty day moving average is $8.78 and its 200-day moving average is $9.78. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.07, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.65. Western Union has a 1-year low of $7.99 and a 1-year high of $12.40.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.02). Western Union had a return on equity of 66.69% and a net margin of 21.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. Western Union’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Western Union will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WU. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Western Union by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,055,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $403,390,000 after purchasing an additional 317,711 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,983,265 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $307,224,000 after buying an additional 4,426,126 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Western Union by 5.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,217,217 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $139,838,000 after purchasing an additional 728,138 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Western Union by 16.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,041,493 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $136,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 1.6% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,175,171 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $75,913,000 after buying an additional 110,902 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.