Novem Group Invests $769,000 in The Western Union Company $WU

Key Points

• Novem Group invested $769,000 in The Western Union Company, acquiring 91,331 shares in Q2, signaling potential institutional confidence in the stock.
• The stock has experienced mixed analyst ratings, with targets ranging from $7.00 to $10.00 and an average price target of $8.61, suggesting cautious sentiment among analysts.
• Western Union declared a quarterly dividend of $0.235 payable on September 30, 2023, reflecting a significant annualized dividend yield of 11.8%.

Novem Group bought a new stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 91,331 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $769,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Western Union by 5.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,217,217 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $139,838,000 after purchasing an additional 728,138 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 1,835,062 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Western Union by 1.6% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,175,171 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $75,913,000 after purchasing an additional 110,902 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Western Union by 1.8% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,765,064 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $60,994,000 after purchasing an additional 103,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 27.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,964,972 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $20,789,000 after acquiring an additional 422,715 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WU has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $10.00 price target on shares of Western Union in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Western Union from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Western Union in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Western Union to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Barclays set a $8.00 target price on shares of Western Union and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $8.61.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WU opened at $7.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The Western Union Company has a 12 month low of $7.85 and a 12 month high of $12.40. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.12. The stock has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.02, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Western Union's payout ratio is currently 35.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Union

In other news, CEO Devin Mcgranahan bought 176,470 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.49 per share, for a total transaction of $1,498,230.30. Following the purchase, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew Cagwin bought 17,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.36 per share, with a total value of $146,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 225,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders own 1.58% of the company's stock.

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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