Northern Trust Corp Increases Holdings in The Western Union Company $WU

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 grew its holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,175,171 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 110,902 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 2.17% of Western Union worth $75,913,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Union in the first quarter valued at about $110,000. MSH Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Union in the first quarter worth about $301,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 3.9% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 57,547 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 2,140 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Union in the first quarter worth about $7,421,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 1.8% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,765,064 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $60,994,000 after purchasing an additional 103,332 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WU has been the topic of several research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their target price on Western Union from $7.50 to $7.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Zacks Research raised Western Union to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Western Union from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Western Union in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $10.00 target price on Western Union in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $8.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Matthew Cagwin acquired 17,500 shares of Western Union stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.36 per share, with a total value of $146,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 225,611 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,886,107.96. The trade was a 8.41% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Western Union Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE WU opened at $8.6750 on Monday. The business's 50 day moving average is $8.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $7.89 and a 1-year high of $12.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.29, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.02). Western Union had a return on equity of 66.11% and a net margin of 21.83%.The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. The company'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, research analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current year.

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.

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