The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Shares Acquired by Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH boosted its holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 375.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 57,324 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 45,278 shares during the quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH’s holdings in Western Union were worth $608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Western Union by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,055,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $403,390,000 after acquiring an additional 317,711 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Western Union by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,983,265 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $307,224,000 after purchasing an additional 4,426,126 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Western Union by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,489,079 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $132,384,000 after purchasing an additional 549,931 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,206,431 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $118,788,000 after purchasing an additional 3,146,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in shares of Western Union by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,021,308 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $95,626,000 after buying an additional 2,194,403 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WU opened at $9.93 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.48. The company has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.64, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.20. The Western Union Company has a one year low of $9.00 and a one year high of $13.17.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 22.19% and a return on equity of 96.90%. The company had revenue of $983.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $10.50 target price (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.78.

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.