Western Union (NYSE:WU) PT Raised to $14.00

Western Union (NYSE:WU) had its price target hoisted by research analysts at Evercore ISI from $13.00 to $14.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “in-line” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 2.12% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on WU. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt initiated coverage on Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Western Union in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.05.

Western Union Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WU opened at $13.71 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $13.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Western Union has a 52-week low of $10.37 and a 52-week high of $14.19. The company has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.16, a PEG ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 0.84.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.37. Western Union had a return on equity of 113.63% and a net margin of 14.37%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Western Union will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Western Union

In other Western Union news, Director Timothy P. Murphy purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.85 per share, for a total transaction of $128,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 56,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $722,234.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Union

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WU. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 1.4% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 56,476 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $744,000 after buying an additional 791 shares during the period. Equitable Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 8.3% during the first quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 10,834 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 834 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 8.3% during the second quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 11,046 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 842 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 169,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,235,000 after buying an additional 842 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 3.3% during the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 30,876 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $509,000 after buying an additional 975 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by 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.