Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH Has $608,000 Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 375.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,324 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 45,278 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH's holdings in Western Union were worth $608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Western Union during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky bought a new position in Western Union during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its holdings in Western Union by 1,487.6% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 3,080 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 2,886 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in Western Union by 662.7% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,722 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 3,234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Western Union by 267.5% during the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 2,790 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Western Union from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $7.50 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.78.

Western Union Stock Down 0.5%

WU traded down $0.05 on Friday, hitting $9.27. 7,352,026 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,155,245. The Western Union Company has a 12 month low of $9.00 and a 12 month high of $13.12. The company has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 3.40, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.20. The stock's fifty day moving average is $9.86 and its 200-day moving average is $10.40.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $983.60 million for 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 business's revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.14%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Western Union's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.07%.

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.