The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Shares Sold by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 36.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,270 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 38,690 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Western Union were worth $802,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Western Union by 134.8% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,956 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Western Union during the third quarter valued at $29,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Western Union by 92.2% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,366 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its position in Western Union by 1,715.3% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,685 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 3,482 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Western Union by 1,092.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,462 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 5,004 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Western Union in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Monness Crespi & Hardt assumed coverage on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.25.

Western Union Stock Performance

NYSE:WU opened at $12.70 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.56, a P/E/G ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 0.85. The Western Union Company has a twelve month low of $10.37 and a twelve month high of $14.19. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $13.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.23.

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

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy P. Murphy acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $12.85 per share, with a total value of $128,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 56,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $722,234.25. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.