The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.24

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, December 13th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be given a dividend of 0.235 per share by the credit services provider on Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.74%.

Western Union has increased its dividend by an average of 1.5% per year over the last three years. Western Union has a payout ratio of 51.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Western Union to earn $1.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.94 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 51.4%.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WU traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $10.76. 3,193,043 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,099,158. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. Western Union has a 52 week low of $10.51 and a 52 week high of $14.19. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.81.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.02. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.39% and a net margin of 16.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Western Union will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com raised Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Union has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.63.

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.