Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $307.22 Million Stock Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,983,265 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,426,126 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 8.58% of Western Union worth $307,224,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Western Union in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky acquired a new position in shares of Western Union in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 662.7% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,722 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 3,234 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in shares of Western Union by 1,734.7% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,862 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 4,597 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Western Union in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. 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 research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report 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 target price for the company. 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. According to MarketBeat, Western Union currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.78.

Western Union Price Performance

Shares of Western Union stock traded down $0.19 during trading on Thursday, reaching $9.73. 2,080,720 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,818,312. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $10.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.63. The company has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.56, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.69. 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 Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $9.00 and a 1-year high of $13.60.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.01. The company 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 revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.67%. Western Union's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.07%.

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.