Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 5.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,217,217 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 728,138 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 4.00% of Western Union worth $139,838,000 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 position in Western Union by 18.0% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 202.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,661,732 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $60,014,000 after acquiring an additional 3,792,683 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,206,431 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $118,788,000 after acquiring an additional 3,146,395 shares during the period. Brickwood Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,177,000. Finally, Meridiem Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter worth approximately $16,347,000. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $10.00 target price on Western Union in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their price target on Western Union from $7.50 to $7.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Susquehanna cut their price target on Western Union from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Western Union in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $9.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $8.61.

Western Union Stock Up 1.0%

WU stock traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $8.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,306,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,575,046. The company has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a PE ratio of 3.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.61. The Western Union Company has a 12 month low of $7.89 and a 12 month high of $12.40. 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 firm's 50-day moving average is $8.51 and its 200-day moving average is $9.62.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Western Union's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.