40,275 Shares in The Western Union Company $WU Acquired by Jump Financial LLC

Key Points

• Jump Financial LLC acquired 40,275 shares of The Western Union Company, valued at approximately $426,000, marking a new investment in the credit services provider during the first quarter.
• Western Union's recent earnings report revealed $0.42 earnings per share, missing estimates by $0.02, and a revenue of $1.03 billion, down 3.8% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.235 per share with a dividend yield of 10.8%, to be paid to shareholders on September 30th.

Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 40,275 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $426,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 1,487.6% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 3,080 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 2,886 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Western Union by 80.2% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,264 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,453 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Western Union by 464.3% in the first quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 3,397 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 2,795 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake 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. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Union during the first quarter valued at about $96,000. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Western Union in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Western Union from $10.50 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "hold" rating and a $9.00 price objective on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $8.61.

Insider Activity at Western Union

In other news, CFO Matthew Cagwin purchased 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $8.36 per share, with a total value of $146,300.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 225,611 shares in the company, valued at $1,886,107.96. This represents a 8.41% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Devin Mcgranahan purchased 176,470 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, the chief executive officer owned 913,125 shares in the company, valued at $7,752,431.25. This represents a 23.96% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.58% of the company's stock.

Western Union Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:WU traded up $0.01 on Thursday, hitting $8.73. 6,841,884 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,476,846. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The Western Union Company has a 1 year low of $7.89 and a 1 year high of $12.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $8.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.41. The company has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a PE ratio of 3.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.64.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.02). Western Union had a net margin of 21.83% and a return on equity of 66.11%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. The company's revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Union has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.650-1.750 EPS. Equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.8%. Western Union's payout ratio is presently 35.61%.

Western Union Company 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.