Toronto Dominion Bank Makes New Investment in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Toronto Dominion Bank bought a new position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 69,605 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $738,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,055,661 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $403,390,000 after purchasing an additional 317,711 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 18.0% in the fourth 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,489,079 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $132,384,000 after purchasing an additional 549,931 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 39.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position 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 worth $95,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,194,403 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of Western Union from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $7.50 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $10.78.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of Western Union stock traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $9.38. The company had a trading volume of 6,992,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,116,888. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $9.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.42. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 3.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $9.00 and a 1-year high of $13.12.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $983.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 22.19% and a return on equity of 96.90%. Western Union's quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.02%. Western Union's payout ratio is 35.07%.

Western Union Company 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.