Western Union (NYSE:WU) Issues Earnings Results

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The credit services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.04, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 14.37% and a return on equity of 113.63%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. Western Union updated its FY24 guidance to $1.70-1.80 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 1.700-1.800 EPS.

Western Union Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of WU traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $13.59. The company had a trading volume of 5,713,791 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,439,084. Western Union has a 1-year low of $10.37 and a 1-year high of $14.19. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $13.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a PE ratio of 8.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.92%. Western Union's dividend payout ratio is presently 55.95%.

Insider Activity at Western Union

In other Western Union news, Director Timothy P. Murphy purchased 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the director now owns 56,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $722,234.25. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Wolfe Research reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt began coverage on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $13.25.

About Western Union

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.