The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Given Consensus Rating of "Reduce" by Brokerages

Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Reduce" from the ten analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and six have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $10.78.

Several research firms recently commented on WU. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $10.50 price objective (down from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Western Union from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $7.50 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 24th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Union

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 608,454 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $7,257,000 after purchasing an additional 51,327 shares during the last quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 59,388 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $630,000 after purchasing an additional 5,629 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Western Union during the 4th quarter worth about $476,000. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Western Union during the 4th quarter worth about $703,000. Finally, Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Western Union during the 4th quarter worth about $922,000. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Union Trading Down 2.8%

Western Union stock opened at $9.71 on Wednesday. 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 cap of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72. Western Union has a 1 year low of $9.00 and a 1 year high of $13.45. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $10.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.51.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $983.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 22.19% and a return on equity of 96.90%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Western Union will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.