Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Sells 326,983 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 81.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 73,768 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 326,983 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Western Union were worth $780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WU. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in Western Union by 1,487.6% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 3,080 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing 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 worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in Western Union by 662.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,722 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 3,234 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 worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 267.5% during the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 2,790 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Western Union in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Western Union from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $7.50 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $10.50 price objective (down from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.78.

Western Union Price Performance

WU stock opened at $8.35 on Friday. The Western Union Company has a 1 year low of $8.29 and a 1 year high of $13.12. The company has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.12, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $9.12 and a 200 day moving average of $9.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $983.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 22.08% and a return on equity of 77.19%. Western Union's revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Western Union's dividend payout ratio is 35.07%.

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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