Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH Acquires 45,278 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH boosted its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 375.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 57,324 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 45,278 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH's holdings in Western Union were worth $608,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 80.5% in the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 69,197 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $733,000 after buying an additional 30,869 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Western Union in the 4th quarter valued at $475,000. Meridiem Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter valued at $16,347,000. Mubadala Investment Co PJSC acquired a new position in Western Union in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,334,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Western Union by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,133,841 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $12,019,000 after purchasing an additional 208,379 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WU has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. 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. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Western Union from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $7.50 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $10.78.

Western Union Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of NYSE:WU traded down $0.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $9.33. The stock had a trading volume of 2,739,140 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,062,408. The Western Union Company has a 52 week low of $9.00 and a 52 week high of $13.12. 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 firm's fifty day moving average is $10.01 and its 200 day moving average is $10.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Western Union's payout ratio 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.