Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Has $2.43 Million Stock Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 35.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 229,360 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 59,777 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned about 0.07% of Western Union worth $2,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WU. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 22,298 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 982 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Western Union by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 62,824 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 80.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Western Union by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 14,233 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 1,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 45,825 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,565 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer started coverage on Western Union in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $10.50 price objective (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Union presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $10.78.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of Western Union stock traded down $0.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $8.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,595,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,498,815. The Western Union Company has a one year low of $8.33 and a one year high of $13.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.68. The business's fifty day moving average price is $9.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.12.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $983.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 77.19% and a net margin of 22.08%. Western Union's revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.22%. Western Union's dividend payout ratio is 35.07%.

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.