The Western Union Company $WU Shares Sold by Diversified Trust Co

Diversified Trust Co lessened its stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 44.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,809 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 24,216 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in Western Union were worth $251,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $136,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835,062 shares during the last quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in Western Union in the 1st quarter valued at $14,548,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 728,138 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union in the first quarter valued at about $7,421,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,228,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Western Union from $10.50 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Western Union in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Western Union from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Western Union in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $9.00 target price for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $8.61.

Western Union Price Performance

WU stock opened at $8.17 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $8.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The stock has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.64. The Western Union Company has a 52-week low of $7.89 and a 52-week high of $12.40.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 66.11% and a net margin of 21.83%.Western Union’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. Western Union has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.650-1.750 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.5%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.61%.

Insider Transactions at Western Union

In related news, CFO Matthew Cagwin bought 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.36 per share, for a total transaction of $146,300.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 225,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,886,107.96. This trade represents a 8.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Devin Mcgranahan acquired 176,470 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.49 per share, with a total value of $1,498,230.30. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 913,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,752,431.25. This represents a 23.96% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.