Silverlake Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Silverlake Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 46,826 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $495,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,055,661 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $403,390,000 after acquiring an additional 317,711 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Western Union by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,983,265 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $307,224,000 after purchasing an additional 4,426,126 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Western Union by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,206,431 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $118,788,000 after buying an additional 3,146,395 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Western Union by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,021,308 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $95,626,000 after buying an additional 2,194,403 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,064,269 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $74,881,000 after buying an additional 41,772 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on WU shares. 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 on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Western Union in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating 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 eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.78.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WU traded down $0.24 during trading on Friday, reaching $8.35. The stock had a trading volume of 11,171,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,637,252. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.65. The Western Union Company has a 52 week low of $8.29 and a 52 week high of $13.12.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.01. Western Union had a return on equity of 77.19% and a net margin of 22.08%. The company had revenue of $983.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.26%. 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.