Western Union (NYSE:WU) Price Target Lowered to $7.00 at Monness Crespi & Hardt

Western Union (NYSE:WU) had its price objective cut by equities researchers at Monness Crespi & Hardt from $7.50 to $7.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a “sell” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt’s target price indicates a potential downside of 13.58% from the stock’s current price.

WU has been the subject of several other reports. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $10.50 price target (down from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Western Union in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.83.

Western Union Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:WU opened at $8.10 on Tuesday. Western Union has a 52-week low of $7.99 and a 52-week high of $12.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $8.75 and a 200 day moving average of $9.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of 3.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.02). Western Union had a return on equity of 66.11% and a net margin of 21.83%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Western Union will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Union

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Western Union in the fourth quarter worth about $705,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Western Union by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,055,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $403,390,000 after buying an additional 317,711 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Western Union in the fourth quarter worth about $22,984,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in Western Union by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 59,804 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 5,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in Western Union by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $723,000 after buying an additional 6,727 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.