Mackenzie Financial Corp Acquires 133,106 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 349.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 171,205 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 133,106 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned about 0.05% of Western Union worth $1,815,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Western Union by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,055,661 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $403,390,000 after buying an additional 317,711 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Western Union by 18.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,489,079 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $132,384,000 after buying an additional 549,931 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Western Union by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,206,431 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $118,788,000 after acquiring an additional 3,146,395 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in shares of Western Union by 32.1% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,021,308 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $95,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,194,403 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on WU shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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 report on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer started coverage on Western Union in a research report on Monday. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Western Union from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $7.50 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.78.

Western Union Trading Down 0.5%

Western Union stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $9.37. The stock had a trading volume of 1,440,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,155,869. The Western Union Company has a twelve month low of $9.00 and a twelve month high of $13.12. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $9.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 3.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.01. Western Union had a net margin of 22.19% and a return on equity of 96.90%. The firm had revenue of $983.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. Western Union's quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.04%. Western Union's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.07%.

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.