Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Has $338,000 Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 19.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,918 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,232 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Western Union were worth $338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 50,387 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Western Union by 1.4% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 88,410 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,055,000 after buying an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Western Union by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 61,606 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $653,000 after buying an additional 1,560 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in Western Union by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 45,825 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 1,565 shares during the period. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Western Union by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 27,044 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.11.

Western Union Trading Up 0.5 %

WU opened at $10.64 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $10.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.90, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.79. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $10.04 and a fifty-two week high of $14.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.02). Western Union had a net margin of 22.19% and a return on equity of 96.90%. As a group, research analysts predict that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.84%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.43%.

Western Union declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, December 13th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 27.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.