Western Union’s (WU) “Neutral” Rating Reaffirmed at Susquehanna

Western Union (NYSE:WU)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating restated by Susquehanna in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $9.00 price target on the credit services provider’s stock, down from their prior price target of $11.00. Susquehanna’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 11.87% from the stock’s previous close.

WU has been the topic of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Western Union in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $7.50 to $7.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Four 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.61.

Western Union Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of WU traded down $0.06 on Tuesday, reaching $8.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,693,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,451,423. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. Western Union has a twelve month low of $7.99 and a twelve month high of $12.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of 3.05, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $8.75 and a 200-day moving average of $9.77.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share 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 66.11%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Western Union will post 1.79 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Western Union

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Western Union by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,055,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $403,390,000 after acquiring an additional 317,711 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in 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 worth $307,224,000 after purchasing an additional 4,426,126 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Western Union by 5.8% in the 1st 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 during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 16.4% during the 1st 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 during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 1.6% in the 1st 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 during the period. 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.