Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $5.44 Million Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 456,340 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 11,308 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.13% of Western Union worth $5,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $130,247,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,595 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,498,861 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $151,555,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,247 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new stake in shares of Western Union in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,180,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 268.2% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 1,224,532 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $16,139,000 after acquiring an additional 891,949 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 969.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 765,613 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,192,000 after acquiring an additional 694,026 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on WU. Monness Crespi & Hardt began coverage on Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays increased their target price on Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.61.

Western Union Trading Up 2.8 %

WU stock opened at $13.37 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $13.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.61. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $10.92 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released 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 return on equity of 120.76% and a net margin of 14.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy P. Murphy purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owns 56,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $722,234.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by 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.