The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Shares Sold by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. reduced its position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 24.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,779 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 3,765 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Western Union were worth $125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Western Union in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky bought a new stake in shares of Western Union in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Western Union by 662.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,722 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 3,234 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Union by 267.5% in the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 2,790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in shares of Western Union by 1,734.7% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,862 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 4,597 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WU shares. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of Western Union from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $7.50 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $10.50 target price (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.78.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of WU opened at $9.93 on Monday. The Western Union Company has a 1 year low of $9.00 and a 1 year high of $13.17. The company has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $10.08 and a 200-day moving average of $10.48.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.01. Western Union had a net margin of 22.19% and a return on equity of 96.90%. The company had revenue of $983.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.07%.

Western Union 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.