Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Reduces Stock Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Key Points

• Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ has reduced its stake in The Western Union Company by 13.9%, currently holding approximately 0.16% of the company's shares valued at $5.7 million.
• Western Union's recent quarterly dividend was set at $0.235 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 10.95%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Western Union, with four analysts recommending a sell and an overall consensus rating of "Hold" with a price target around $10.33.

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ reduced its position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 13.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 539,861 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 87,158 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ owned approximately 0.16% of Western Union worth $5,712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Western Union by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 22,298 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 982 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 0.5% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 239,236 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,530,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 0.7% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 186,822 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,947,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Union by 0.3% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 405,839 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $4,294,000 after buying an additional 1,262 shares during the period. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Western Union by 2.3% during the first quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 62,824 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $665,000 after buying an additional 1,393 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WU. UBS Group set a $8.50 price objective on shares of Western Union and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Western Union from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $9.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $10.00 price target on shares of Western Union in a report on Tuesday. Four 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, Western Union has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $8.61.

Western Union Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Western Union stock traded up $0.02 on Thursday, reaching $8.12. The stock had a trading volume of 3,911,645 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,195,621. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $8.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The Western Union Company has a 1 year low of $7.99 and a 1 year high of $12.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.65.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 66.11% and a net margin of 21.83%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Western Union's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.61%.

Western Union 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.