Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 540,547 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 55.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 441,967 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 540,547 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned 0.12% of Western Union worth $5,268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Union during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 5,004 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Union during the third quarter valued at $83,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Western Union by 23.2% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,793 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 1,278 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of Western Union stock opened at $13.37 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The business has a 50-day moving average of $13.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.61. The Western Union Company has a 1 year low of $10.92 and a 1 year high of $14.19. The company has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.84.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.05. Western Union had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 120.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is 55.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on WU. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Three 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, Western Union has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.61.

Insider Activity

In other Western Union news, Director Timothy P. Murphy acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.