Ethic Inc. Buys New Holdings in The Western Union Company $WU

Ethic Inc. bought a new stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 43,038 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $360,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WU. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Western Union by 188.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,803 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 2,483 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Western Union by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 275,280 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,885,000 after purchasing an additional 30,801 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in Western Union in the 1st quarter worth approximately $124,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Western Union by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 779,770 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,250,000 after purchasing an additional 3,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in Western Union by 49.0% in the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 68,284 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $722,000 after purchasing an additional 22,459 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on WU shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Western Union from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Citigroup upgraded Western Union to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Western Union from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Western Union from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their target price on Western Union from $7.50 to $7.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $8.55.

Western Union Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE WU opened at $9.54 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $8.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.78. The Western Union Company has a one year low of $7.85 and a one year high of $11.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.61.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.04. Western Union had a return on equity of 60.85% and a net margin of 18.80%.The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Union has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.650-1.750 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.05%.

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.