Western Union (NYSE:WU) PT Lowered to $10.00 at Barclays

Western Union (NYSE:WU – Get Rating) had its price target trimmed by Barclays from $13.00 to $10.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, The Fly reports. The firm currently has an underweight rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a sell rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Union currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $14.23.

Western Union Stock Down 4.9 %

Shares of NYSE WU opened at $10.57 on Monday. Western Union has a 12-month low of $10.44 and a 12-month high of $19.97. The company has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a PE ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.48, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $13.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.86.

Western Union (NYSE:WU – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.03). Western Union had a net margin of 20.35% and a return on equity of 151.54%. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Western Union will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 16th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Union

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Union by 460.8% in the third quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,585 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co increased its position in shares of Western Union by 89.4% in the third quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 1,941 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 916 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Western Union by 7,000.0% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 2,170 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Union by 157.6% in the fourth quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,540 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,554 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.66% of the company’s stock.

About Western Union

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The Western Union Co is a holding company, which engages in the provision of money transfer and payment services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer-to-Consumer, Business Solutions, and Other. The Consumer-to-Consumer segment facilitates money transfers between two consumers. The Business Solutions segment offers payment and foreign exchange solutions, cross-border, and cross-currency transactions for small and medium size enterprises and other organizations and individuals.