Brokers Offer Predictions for The Western Union Company’s Q4 2024 Earnings (NYSE:WU)

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) – Equities research analysts at Northland Capmk lifted their Q4 2024 earnings estimates for Western Union in a research note issued on Thursday, April 25th. Northland Capmk analyst M. Grondahl now expects that the credit services provider will earn $0.42 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $0.39. The consensus estimate for Western Union’s current full-year earnings is $1.75 per share.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on WU. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays raised their target price on Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.45.

Western Union Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WU opened at $13.51 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.61. Western Union has a twelve month low of $10.37 and a twelve month high of $14.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.05. Western Union had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 120.76%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.96%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.62%.

Insider Activity at Western Union

In other news, Director Timothy P. Murphy purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.85 per share, for a total transaction of $128,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 56,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $722,234.25. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Union

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Western Union by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 17,854,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $235,324,000 after buying an additional 408,661 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 10.5% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,498,861 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $151,555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,247 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Union by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,882,154 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $130,247,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,595 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,087,155 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $96,399,000 after purchasing an additional 160,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in Western Union by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 7,460,960 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $88,935,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627,822 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.