Kestra Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in The Western Union Company $WU

Key Points

• Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in The Western Union Company by 91.2% in the first quarter, reaching approximately $2.5 million worth of shares.
• Insider activity was notable, with CEO Devin Mcgranahan acquiring 176,470 shares at $8.49 each, increasing his stake by 23.96%.
• Western Union recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.235, resulting in an annualized yield of 10.6%.

Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 91.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 235,082 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 112,126 shares during the quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Western Union worth $2,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mork Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Union during the 1st quarter worth about $1,058,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Western Union by 28.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,458,054 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $15,426,000 after purchasing an additional 324,213 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in Western Union by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 39,859 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 5,351 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Western Union by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,041,493 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $136,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perbak Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Western Union during the 1st quarter worth about $348,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on WU. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Western Union from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Western Union in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "hold" rating and a $9.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $10.00 price objective on Western Union in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Western Union in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Western Union from $10.50 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $8.61.

Insider Activity

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

Western Union Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:WU opened at $8.85 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $8.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.37. 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 Western Union Company has a 12-month low of $7.89 and a 12-month high of $12.40. The firm has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.35, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last issued 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). Western Union had a return on equity of 66.11% and a net margin of 21.83%.The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Western Union's payout ratio is currently 35.61%.

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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