Susquehanna Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Western Union (NYSE:WU) Stock Price

Western Union (NYSE:WU) had its target price cut by investment analysts at Susquehanna from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Susquehanna’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 11.11% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target 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. Oppenheimer began coverage on Western Union in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $10.50 target price (down from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.83.

Western Union Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of WU stock opened at $8.10 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The stock has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.77. 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 results on Monday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 21.83% and a return on equity of 66.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Western Union will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WU. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Western Union by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 22,298 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 982 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in Western Union by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 239,236 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in Western Union by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 186,822 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Western Union by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 405,839 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its position in Western Union by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 62,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by 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.