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

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

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $307,224,000 after purchasing an additional 4,426,126 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Western Union by 202.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,661,732 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $60,014,000 after purchasing an additional 3,792,683 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Western Union by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,206,431 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $118,788,000 after purchasing an additional 3,146,395 shares during the last quarter. Brickwood Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Western Union in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,177,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of Western Union by 32.1% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,021,308 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $95,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,194,403 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WU has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Western Union from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $7.50 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Western Union in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $10.50 price target (down from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target 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. 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 an average target price of $10.78.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WU traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $8.65. 5,236,513 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,603,038. The firm has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.23, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.65. The Western Union Company has a twelve month low of $8.29 and a twelve month high of $13.12. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.01. Western Union had a net margin of 22.08% and a return on equity of 77.19%. The business had revenue of $983.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. The business's revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.87%. Western Union's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.