Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 94,384 The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 94,384 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,000,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter valued at $144,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Union by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 600,208 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $6,362,000 after acquiring an additional 84,470 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of Western Union by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 14,233 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 1,493 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Western Union by 496.8% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,749,709 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $18,547,000 after acquiring an additional 1,456,535 shares during the period. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main bought a new position in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter worth $473,000. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WU has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. 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. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Western Union from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $10.50 price target (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Union currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.78.

Western Union Price Performance

NYSE WU traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $10.01. The company had a trading volume of 969,237 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,014,504. The Western Union Company has a 52 week low of $9.00 and a 52 week high of $13.17. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.66, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.01. Western Union had a return on equity of 96.90% and a net margin of 22.19%. The business had revenue of $983.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.40%. Western Union's payout ratio is currently 35.07%.

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.