Cullen Investment Group LTD. Makes New $214,000 Investment in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. purchased a new position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 17,943 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WU. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 134.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,956 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Union in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 92.2% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,366 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 1,715.3% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,685 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 3,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 1,092.6% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,462 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 5,004 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Stock Down 1.1 %

WU opened at $12.70 on Wednesday. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $10.37 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $13.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.56, a PEG ratio of 4.72 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 14.37% and a return on equity of 113.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.40%. Western Union’s payout ratio is presently 55.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WU. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Western Union in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Union news, Director Timothy P. Murphy purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.85 per share, for a total transaction of $128,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 56,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $722,234.25. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.