Oak Thistle LLC Buys Shares of 44,918 The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 44,918 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $476,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WU. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Western Union by 62.8% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,730,450 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,586,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439,310 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 52.0% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,337,466 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142,400 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Western Union during the third quarter valued at approximately $11,726,000. Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new position in Western Union in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $8,124,000. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its position in Western Union by 751.7% in the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 722,532 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,829,000 after buying an additional 637,702 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on WU. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Union presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.63.

Western Union Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE:WU opened at $10.52 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $10.73 and its 200-day moving average is $11.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The Western Union Company has a 12 month low of $10.19 and a 12 month high of $14.19. The firm has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 120.39%. The business’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.21%.

Western Union announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, December 13th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 27.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Western Union 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.