Abel Hall LLC Invests $365,000 in The Western Union Company $WU

Key Points

• Abel Hall LLC invested approximately $365,000 in Western Union Company, acquiring 43,308 shares in the second quarter.
• Western Union reported a quarterly EPS of $0.42, missing estimates by $0.02, with 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 11.5% and a payout ratio of 35.61%.

Abel Hall LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 43,308 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $365,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WU. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 worth $136,675,000 after buying an additional 1,835,062 shares during the period. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Western Union during the first quarter worth approximately $14,548,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 414.7% during the second quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,180,426 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $9,939,000 after buying an additional 951,066 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 5.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,217,217 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $139,838,000 after buying an additional 728,138 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Union during the first quarter worth approximately $7,421,000. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Union Price Performance

NYSE WU opened at $8.18 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.61. The Western Union Company has a 1 year low of $7.85 and a 1 year high of $12.02. The business's fifty day moving average is $8.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 21.83% and a return on equity of 66.11%. Western Union's quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. Western Union has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.650-1.750 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.5%. Western Union's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Union

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WU. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Western Union from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Susquehanna cut their target price on Western Union from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. UBS Group cut their target price on Western Union from $10.50 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Union presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $8.50.

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.

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