Nuveen Asset Management LLC Sells 186,765 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 26.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 520,661 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 186,765 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned 0.15% of Western Union worth $5,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WU. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 9.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 608,454 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $7,257,000 after purchasing an additional 51,327 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 45.5% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 33.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 18,533 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 4,657 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 61.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,575 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 5,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 50,387 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 1,072 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WU. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $10.50 target price (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Western Union from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $7.50 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.78.

Western Union Stock Performance

WU traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $9.31. The stock had a trading volume of 5,391,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,176,215. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $9.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.37. 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 cap of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 3.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $983.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 96.90% and a net margin of 22.19%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.10%. Western Union's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.07%.

Western Union 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.