OLD National Bancorp IN Increases Stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

OLD National Bancorp IN raised its stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 16.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 762,999 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 105,301 shares during the quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN owned about 0.23% of Western Union worth $8,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WU. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 80.2% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,264 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453 shares in the last quarter. Curat Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Union in the first quarter valued at $121,000. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 56.8% in the first quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 741,320 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $7,843,000 after purchasing an additional 268,494 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 9.8% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 129,757 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,373,000 after purchasing an additional 11,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 372.1% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 56,245 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $595,000 after purchasing an additional 44,330 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut 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 report on Thursday, April 24th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna cut 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. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of Western Union from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $7.50 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.78.

Western Union Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of WU opened at $9.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a PE ratio of 3.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a fifty day moving average of $9.74 and a 200 day moving average of $10.35. The Western Union Company has a 52-week low of $9.00 and a 52-week high of $13.12. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.01. Western Union had a return on equity of 96.90% and a net margin of 22.19%. The company had revenue of $983.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Western Union's revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.93%. Western Union's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.07%.

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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