Western Union (NYSE:WU) Price Target Cut to $9.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) had its target price trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on WU. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Western Union from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Western Union from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Western Union in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Western Union from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.83.

Western Union Stock Performance

NYSE WU opened at $8.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $8.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.78. Western Union has a twelve month low of $7.99 and a twelve month high of $13.11.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 21.83% and a return on equity of 66.69%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. Western Union’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Western Union will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Western Union’s payout ratio is currently 35.07%.

Institutional Trading of Western Union

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $403,390,000 after buying an additional 317,711 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Western Union by 18.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Western Union by 5.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,217,217 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $139,838,000 after buying an additional 728,138 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Western Union by 16.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,041,493 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $136,675,000 after buying an additional 1,835,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in 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 currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.