New York State Teachers Retirement System Has $3.86 Million Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 9.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 365,093 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 38,200 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.11% of Western Union worth $3,863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WU. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Western Union during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,018,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC purchased a new position in Western Union during the 1st quarter valued at about $149,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in Western Union by 45.5% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 68,622 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 21,456 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in Western Union by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 6,727 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Western Union during the 4th quarter valued at about $705,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WU has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Western Union in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $10.50 price objective (down previously 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, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $10.78.

Western Union Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:WU traded down $0.06 during trading on Thursday, reaching $8.60. 5,344,046 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,607,663. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. The Western Union Company has a 12-month low of $8.29 and a 12-month high of $13.12. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.65. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $9.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.99.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.01. Western Union had a return on equity of 77.19% and a net margin of 22.08%. The business 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. The business's revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.94%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Western Union's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.