Ameriprise Financial Inc. Purchases 670,480 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 34.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,627,846 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 670,480 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s holdings in Western Union were worth $27,855,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WU. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Western Union by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $723,000 after buying an additional 6,727 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 50.6% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 122,956 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,303,000 after purchasing an additional 41,317 shares in the last quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter valued at about $922,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter valued at about $705,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Western Union by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 480,543 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,094,000 after buying an additional 76,900 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Union Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WU opened at $9.71 on Wednesday. The Western Union Company has a 1 year low of $9.00 and a 1 year high of $13.45. The company’s 50-day moving average is $10.20 and its 200 day moving average is $10.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $983.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 96.90% and a net margin of 22.19%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Western Union from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $7.50 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.78.

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.