47,681 Shares in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Purchased by Michels Family Financial LLC

Michels Family Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 47,681 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $505,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Western Union by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 608,454 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $7,257,000 after buying an additional 51,327 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Union during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $126,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Western Union during the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Western Union by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 61,606 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Western Union by 45.5% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,371 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,993 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WU shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Western Union from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $10.50 target price (down from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered 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 report on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Union has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.78.

Western Union Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE WU traded down $0.08 on Thursday, hitting $9.30. 2,333,462 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,115,912. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The Western Union Company has a twelve month low of $9.00 and a twelve month high of $13.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72. The company's 50 day moving average price is $9.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.42.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $983.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Western Union's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.