Mork Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 100,000 The Western Union Company $WU

Key Points

• Mork Capital Management LLC has made a new investment in The Western Union Company, acquiring 100,000 shares worth approximately $1.06 million.
• The CEO and CFO of Western Union have both purchased substantial shares of the company, with CEO Devin Mcgranahan acquiring 176,470 shares valued at about $1.5 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.235 per share, with a yield of 10.6%, set to be paid out to shareholders on September 30th.

Mork Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 100,000 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,058,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Western Union by 28.6% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in Western Union by 15.5% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 39,859 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 5,351 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Western Union by 16.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,041,493 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $136,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835,062 shares during the last quarter. Perbak Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Western Union during the first quarter valued at approximately $348,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Western Union during the first quarter valued at approximately $121,000. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on WU. Barclays set a $8.00 price target on shares of Western Union and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Western Union in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "hold" rating and a $9.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Western Union to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $8.61.

Western Union Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Western Union stock traded down $0.11 on Monday, hitting $8.74. The stock had a trading volume of 7,732,173 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,607,306. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The Western Union Company has a one year low of $7.89 and a one year high of $12.40. The stock has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.31, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $8.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.35.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.42 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 analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. The business's revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Union has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.650-1.750 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.8%. Western Union's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.