The Western Union Company $WU Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Western Union by 32.3% in Q3, buying 1,656,295 shares to hold 6,786,647 shares (about 2.14% of the company) worth roughly $54.2 million.
• Several other large investors (Schroder, Discerene, Allianz, Qube, etc.) also materially increased positions, leaving approximately 91.8% of WU stock owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• Analysts have an overall Reduce consensus with a $8.82 target; WU trades near $9.83, shows a P/E of 6.47, and offers a high dividend yield of 9.6% (quarterly $0.235 payment).

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 32.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,786,647 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,656,295 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 2.14% of Western Union worth $54,225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 0.4% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,275,287 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $111,778,000 after purchasing an additional 58,070 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in Western Union by 48.5% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 13,240,037 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $111,481,000 after buying an additional 4,321,604 shares during the last quarter. Discerene Group LP grew its holdings in Western Union by 55.1% in the 2nd quarter. Discerene Group LP now owns 10,366,558 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $87,286,000 after buying an additional 3,684,366 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in Western Union by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 6,329,626 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $50,574,000 after buying an additional 2,140,167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in shares of Western Union by 821.1% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 4,170,343 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $35,114,000 after acquiring an additional 3,717,589 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on WU. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Western Union to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Western Union from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $8.82.

Western Union Price Performance

WU stock opened at $9.83 on Thursday. The Western Union Company has a 52-week low of $7.85 and a 52-week high of $10.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a fifty day moving average of $9.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.01.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 62.01% and a net margin of 12.33%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. Western Union has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.750-1.850 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.6%. Western Union's dividend payout ratio is presently 61.84%.

Western Union Company Profile

Western Union Company NYSE: WU is a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments. The company enables individuals and businesses to send and receive money through a variety of channels, including its vast agent network, online platforms, and mobile applications. Core services include person-to-person money transfers, business-to-business cross-border payments, bill payment services and prepaid card programs.

Through its digital offerings, Western Union provides customers with the ability to initiate transfers via its website and mobile app, as well as track transactions in real time.

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