The Western Union Company $WU Shares Purchased by Ieq Capital LLC

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC significantly increased its stake in The Western Union Company by 74.1%, acquiring an additional 233,271 shares to bring its total holdings to 548,163 shares.
• Western Union's quarterly earnings report showed an earnings per share of $0.42, missing estimates and reflecting a 3.8% year-over-year revenue decline.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.235 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 11.0%.

Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 74.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 548,163 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 233,271 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC owned about 0.17% of Western Union worth $5,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WU. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 5.8% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Western Union by 1.6% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,175,171 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $75,913,000 after acquiring an additional 110,902 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Western Union by 1.8% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,765,064 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $60,994,000 after acquiring an additional 103,332 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Western Union by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,072,627 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $53,770,000 after purchasing an additional 428,856 shares during the period. Finally, Brickwood Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in Western Union during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,177,000. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Western Union

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WU shares. Zacks Research upgraded Western Union to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Barclays set a $8.00 price objective on shares of Western Union and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their target price on shares of Western Union from $7.50 to $7.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $10.00 price target on shares of Western Union in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Western Union in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $8.61.

Western Union Trading Up 1.8%

WU stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Monday, hitting $8.67. The company had a trading volume of 10,565,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,053,260. The Western Union Company has a 52-week low of $7.89 and a 52-week high of $12.40. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.28, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 66.11% and a net margin of 21.83%.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 posted $0.44 EPS. Western Union has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.650-1.750 EPS. As a group, 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.8%. Western Union's payout ratio is currently 35.61%.

Western Union 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.