The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Plans $0.24 Quarterly Dividend

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 19th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.235 per share by the credit services provider on Friday, September 29th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th.

Western Union has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.5% annually over the last three years. Western Union has a dividend payout ratio of 55.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Western Union to earn $1.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.94 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 56.0%.

Western Union Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Western Union stock opened at $13.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a PE ratio of 6.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $12.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.71. Western Union has a 1 year low of $10.07 and a 1 year high of $15.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The credit services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 116.87% and a net margin of 17.12%. The company’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Western Union will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 155.3% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,576,970 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $90,565,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000,880 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Western Union by 8.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,774,680 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $617,958,000 after buying an additional 3,522,420 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Western Union by 106.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,550,664 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $61,890,000 after buying an additional 2,859,852 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union in the 4th quarter worth $29,041,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,856,481 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $315,890,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592,331 shares during the period. 88.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on WU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Western Union from $11.50 to $12.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Western Union from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.81.

Western Union Company Profile

The Western Union Company provides money movement and payment services worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Consumer-to-Consumer and Business Solutions. The Consumer-to-Consumer 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.