BNP Paribas Financial Markets Acquires 116,653 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 80.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 261,386 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 116,653 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Western Union were worth $2,771,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WU. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Western Union by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,627,846 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $27,855,000 after purchasing an additional 670,480 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in Western Union by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 431,007 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,569,000 after purchasing an additional 146,103 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in Western Union in the 4th quarter worth $235,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in Western Union in the 4th quarter worth $735,000. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Union in the 4th quarter worth $91,000. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WU shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $10.50 target price (down from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven 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 $10.78.

Western Union Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Western Union stock opened at $9.79 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.49. The Western Union Company has a 12-month low of $9.00 and a 12-month high of $13.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04. The stock has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.59, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $983.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 22.19% and a return on equity of 96.90%. Western Union’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.60%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.07%.

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.