Mubadala Investment Co PJSC Makes New Investment in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Mubadala Investment Co PJSC purchased a new stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 220,151 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,334,000. Mubadala Investment Co PJSC owned approximately 0.07% of Western Union as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WU. 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 purchasing an additional 4,426,126 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Western Union by 202.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,661,732 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $60,014,000 after acquiring an additional 3,792,683 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Western Union by 39.0% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,206,431 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $118,788,000 after acquiring an additional 3,146,395 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in Western Union by 32.1% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,021,308 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $95,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,194,403 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Western Union in the fourth quarter valued at about $22,984,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on WU. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Western Union from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $7.50 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $10.50 target price (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.78.

Western Union Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Western Union stock traded up $0.15 on Friday, hitting $9.93. The stock had a trading volume of 6,337,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,011,145. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $10.08 and a 200 day moving average of $10.48. The Western Union Company has a twelve month low of $9.00 and a twelve month high of $13.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.64, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.20.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.01. Western Union had a return on equity of 96.90% and a net margin of 22.19%. The business had revenue of $983.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Western Union's payout ratio is presently 35.07%.

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.