Brokerages Set The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Target Price at $13.05

Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Reduce" from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eight have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.05.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WU shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Western Union in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. William Blair reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt initiated coverage on Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, January 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Union

In other Western Union news, Director Timothy P. Murphy bought 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $12.85 per share, for a total transaction of $128,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $722,234.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Union

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WU. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Western Union by 134.8% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,956 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Western Union in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Western Union in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Western Union by 92.2% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,366 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Western Union by 310.5% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,615 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,978 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Union Stock Performance

Western Union stock traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $13.61. 2,860,562 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,564,790. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.61. Western Union has a fifty-two week low of $10.37 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19. The stock has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.10, a P/E/G ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.37. Western Union had a return on equity of 113.63% and a net margin of 14.37%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Western Union will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Western Union's dividend payout ratio is presently 55.95%.

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.