The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Given Average Rating of "Reduce" by Analysts

Key Points

• The Western Union Company has received a consensus rating of "Reduce" from brokerages, with five analysts giving it a sell rating and seven issuing a hold rating.
• Western Union's stock opened at $8.39, down 0.1%, and the company reported Q2 earnings of $0.42 per share, missing analyst expectations.
• Insider activity was noted as the CFO and CEO both increased their stakes in the company, with the CFO buying 17,500 shares and the CEO acquiring 176,470 shares.

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" by the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and seven have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $8.6111.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Western Union in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "hold" rating and a $9.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $10.00 target price on Western Union in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their price target on Western Union from $7.50 to $7.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Western Union in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th.

Western Union Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE WU traded down $0.06 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.14. The company had a trading volume of 16,293,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,230,807. The company's fifty day moving average price is $8.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.22. Western Union has a 12 month low of $7.89 and a 12 month high of $12.40. The stock has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.08, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.02). Western Union had a net margin of 21.83% and a return on equity of 66.11%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Western Union has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.650-1.750 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Western Union will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Western Union's dividend payout ratio is 35.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Matthew Cagwin acquired 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.36 per share, with a total value of $146,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 225,611 shares in the company, valued at $1,886,107.96. This trade represents a 8.41% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Devin Mcgranahan acquired 176,470 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.49 per share, with a total value of $1,498,230.30. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 913,125 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,752,431.25. The trade was a 23.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Union

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 1,487.6% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 3,080 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 2,886 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 80.2% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,264 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 464.3% in the first quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 3,397 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 2,795 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 667.0% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,602 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 4,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Union by 188.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,803 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,483 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.