Royal Bank Of Canada Lowers Western Union (NYSE:WU) Price Target to $9.00

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada has reduced its price target for Western Union's stock from $13.00 to $9.00, indicating a potential upside of 8.24% from the current price.
• Several analysts have downgraded their price targets, with Morgan Stanley setting theirs as low as $7.00 and Oppenheimer initiating coverage with a "market perform" rating.
• The company's stock has seen a decline of 1.5%, trading at $8.32, with overall weak earnings performance, missing expectations for both EPS and revenue.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Free Report) had its price objective trimmed by Royal Bank Of Canada from $13.00 to $9.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a sector perform rating on the credit services provider's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on WU. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Western Union in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their target price on Western Union from $7.50 to $7.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group cut their target price on Western Union from $10.50 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Western Union from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Western Union in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $9.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Union presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $8.61.

Western Union Price Performance

NYSE:WU traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $8.34. 1,485,389 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,176,622. Western Union has a 1-year low of $7.99 and a 1-year high of $12.40. The stock has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.65. The firm's 50-day moving average is $8.75 and its 200-day moving average is $9.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.02). Western Union had a return on equity of 66.11% and a net margin of 21.83%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Western Union will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.28%. Western Union's payout ratio is 35.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Western Union by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,983,265 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $307,224,000 after purchasing an additional 4,426,126 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 202.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,661,732 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $60,014,000 after acquiring an additional 3,792,683 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,206,431 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $118,788,000 after acquiring an additional 3,146,395 shares in the last quarter. Brickwood Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter valued at $31,177,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter valued at $22,984,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company's stock.

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.