Western Union (NYSE:WU) Updates FY24 Earnings Guidance

Western Union (NYSE:WU) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $1.70-1.80 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $1.70. The company issued revenue guidance of $4.125-4.200 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $4.13 billion. Western Union also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 1.700-1.800 EPS.

Western Union Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE WU traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $13.47. The stock had a trading volume of 3,831,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,419,905. The company has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.97, a PEG ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s 50 day moving average is $13.43 and its 200-day moving average is $12.62. Western Union has a 52 week low of $10.37 and a 52 week high of $14.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 120.76%. The company’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Western Union will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.98%. Western Union’s payout ratio is 55.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Thursday. William Blair restated a market perform rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt assumed coverage on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a neutral rating on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Union has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $13.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Union news, Director Timothy P. Murphy bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $12.85 per share, with a total value of $128,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 56,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $722,234.25. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.