Diversified Trust Co Takes Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 54,025 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $572,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its holdings in Western Union by 1,487.6% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 3,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 2,886 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Western Union by 80.2% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,264 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,453 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Western Union by 662.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,722 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 3,234 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Western Union by 188.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,803 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 2,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Western Union by 267.5% in the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 2,790 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on WU shares. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Western Union in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Western Union from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $7.50 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Union has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.78.

Western Union Stock Up 0.8%

Western Union stock opened at $8.44 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. The Western Union Company has a one year low of $8.30 and a one year high of $13.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.68.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.01. Western Union had a net margin of 22.08% and a return on equity of 77.19%. The firm had revenue of $983.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. Western Union’s revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.07%.

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.