Meridiem Capital Partners LP Buys New Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Meridiem Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,542,178 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $16,347,000. Western Union comprises 1.4% of Meridiem Capital Partners LP's portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Meridiem Capital Partners LP owned about 0.46% of Western Union at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $723,000 after purchasing an additional 6,727 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Western Union by 50.6% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 122,956 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,303,000 after buying an additional 41,317 shares during the period. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Western Union in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $922,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Western Union during the fourth quarter valued at $705,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 480,543 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $5,094,000 after purchasing an additional 76,900 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WU shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $10.50 target price (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $10.78.

Western Union Stock Up 1.5%

NYSE:WU traded up $0.15 on Friday, hitting $9.93. The stock had a trading volume of 6,337,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,011,145. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04. The Western Union Company has a 52 week low of $9.00 and a 52 week high of $13.22. The business's fifty day moving average is $10.08 and its 200 day moving average is $10.48. The company has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 3.64, a P/E/G 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $983.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 96.90% and a net margin of 22.19%. Western Union's quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Western Union's payout ratio is presently 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.