Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Western Union (NYSE:WU) Stock Price

Western Union (NYSE:WU) had its price objective reduced by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $10.00 to $9.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 11.46% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on WU. Zacks Research upgraded Western Union to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Western Union from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Western Union in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $9.00 target price on the stock. Barclays set a $8.00 target price on Western Union and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Western Union from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $8.50.

Western Union Stock Performance

NYSE WU opened at $8.08 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.06, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.61. Western Union has a twelve month low of $7.85 and a twelve month high of $12.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $8.33 and a 200 day moving average of $9.04.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 66.11% and a net margin of 21.83%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. Western Union has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.650-1.750 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Union will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Union

In other Western Union news, CFO Matthew Cagwin bought 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.36 per share, with a total value of $146,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 225,611 shares in the company, valued at $1,886,107.96. The trade was a 8.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Devin Mcgranahan bought 176,470 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.49 per share, with a total value of $1,498,230.30. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 913,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,752,431.25. The trade was a 23.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WU. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 48.5% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 13,240,037 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $111,481,000 after buying an additional 4,321,604 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in Western Union by 821.1% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 4,170,343 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $35,114,000 after purchasing an additional 3,717,589 shares during the period. Discerene Group LP boosted its holdings in Western Union by 55.1% in the second quarter. Discerene Group LP now owns 10,366,558 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $87,286,000 after purchasing an additional 3,684,366 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Western Union by 16.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,041,493 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $136,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835,062 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Western Union by 180.3% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,798,728 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $23,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800,319 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.