Michels Family Financial LLC Takes $505,000 Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Michels Family Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 47,681 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $505,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings 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. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Western Union by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 50,387 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in Western Union by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 14,233 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 1,493 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 61,606 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $653,000 after buying an additional 1,560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 45,825 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,565 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WU. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Western Union from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded 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 note on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $10.78.

Western Union Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of WU stock traded up $0.08 on Tuesday, hitting $9.48. The company had a trading volume of 7,957,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,109,382. 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 Western Union Company has a twelve month low of $9.00 and a twelve month high of $13.12. The stock's 50-day moving average is $9.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.42. The firm has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.01. Western Union had a net margin of 22.19% and a return on equity of 96.90%. The company had revenue of $983.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Western Union's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.