Neo Ivy Capital Management Invests $2.73 Million in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 257,937 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,734,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management owned about 0.08% of Western Union at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 608,454 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $7,257,000 after buying an additional 51,327 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Western Union during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $126,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Western Union during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Western Union by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 61,606 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $653,000 after acquiring an additional 1,560 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 45.5% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,371 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,993 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WU. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.78.

Western Union Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:WU opened at $9.65 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $9.00 and a 1 year high of $13.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.53, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.45.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.01. Western Union had a return on equity of 96.90% and a net margin of 22.19%. 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 company posted $0.45 EPS. Western Union's quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Western Union's dividend payout ratio is 35.07%.

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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