Centiva Capital LP Acquires New Shares in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 50,395 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $534,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Western Union by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 608,454 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $7,257,000 after buying an additional 51,327 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 8.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,103,296 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $13,061,000 after buying an additional 81,343 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Western Union by 20.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,698,559 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $20,264,000 after buying an additional 283,479 shares during the period. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Western Union by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 59,388 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $630,000 after acquiring an additional 5,629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Union in the 4th quarter worth $476,000. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company's stock.

Western Union Stock Performance

NYSE:WU traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $9.99. 9,678,129 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,954,415. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.20. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $10.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.52. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $9.00 and a fifty-two week high of $13.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.01. Western Union had a net margin of 22.19% and a return on equity of 96.90%. The business had revenue of $983.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Western Union's revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WU. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Western Union from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $7.50 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.78.

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.