The Western Union Company $WU Shares Bought by Northern Trust Corp

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in The Western Union Company by 1.6%, now owning approximately 7.17 million shares valued at $75.9 million.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings on Western Union, with an average target price of $8.61 and multiple analysts recommending a "sell" or "strong sell."
• Western Union reported earnings of $0.42 per share for the last quarter, missing the consensus estimate and reflecting a 3.8% decline in revenue from the previous year.

Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,175,171 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 110,902 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 2.17% of Western Union worth $75,913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WU. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Western Union during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $705,000. Mariner LLC boosted its stake in Western Union by 96.0% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 51,027 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $541,000 after acquiring an additional 24,993 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Western Union by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,072,627 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $53,770,000 after acquiring an additional 428,856 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Western Union by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 193,048 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,046,000 after acquiring an additional 15,754 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Western Union by 183.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 45,632 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $484,000 after acquiring an additional 29,523 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WU traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $8.67. The company had a trading volume of 10,565,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,007,374. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $8.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.44. The stock has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.61. The Western Union Company has a 1 year low of $7.89 and a 1 year high of $12.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 66.11% and a net margin of 21.83%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. Western Union has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.650-1.750 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Western Union's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Union

In other Western Union news, CEO Devin Mcgranahan bought 176,470 shares of Western Union stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.49 per share, with a total value of $1,498,230.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 913,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,752,431.25. This trade represents a 23.96% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Matthew Cagwin bought 17,500 shares of Western Union stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.36 per share, with a total value of $146,300.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 225,611 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,886,107.96. The trade was 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 Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Western Union from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Western Union in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Western Union to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their target price on shares of Western Union from $7.50 to $7.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $8.61.

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.