Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Grows Stock Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 35.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 229,360 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 59,777 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Western Union were worth $2,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its holdings in Western Union by 1,487.6% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 3,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 2,886 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake 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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 662.7% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,722 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 3,234 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 188.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 267.5% during 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WU. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered 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. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $10.50 price objective (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Western Union from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on Western Union in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Union currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.78.

Western Union Stock Performance

NYSE WU opened at $8.52 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $9.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.15. The Western Union Company has a twelve month low of $8.36 and a twelve month high of $13.12. The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a PE ratio of 3.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.01. Western Union had a return on equity of 77.19% and a net margin of 22.08%. The firm had revenue of $983.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.03%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.07%.

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.