Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $2.08 Million Stock Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 45.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 196,389 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 164,677 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.06% of Western Union worth $2,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WU. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 0.8% during 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 period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Western Union by 18.0% during 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. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Western Union by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,206,431 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $118,788,000 after purchasing an additional 3,146,395 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 32.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,194,403 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position 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 valued at $74,881,000 after purchasing an additional 41,772 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Western Union Price Performance

NYSE:WU traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $8.35. 11,174,281 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,637,296. The company has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The business has a 50 day moving average of $9.12 and a 200 day moving average of $9.96. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $8.29 and a 1-year high of $13.12.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.01. The company 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 77.19% and a net margin of 22.08%. Western Union's quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Western Union's payout ratio is presently 35.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna reduced 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded Western Union from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $7.50 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Western Union in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.78.

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.