Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Increases Stock Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 38.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,630,183 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 452,398 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Western Union were worth $17,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WU. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Western Union by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 523,676 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,247,000 after purchasing an additional 83,715 shares during the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Western Union in the third quarter worth $196,000. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Western Union in the third quarter valued at $178,000. Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its stake in Western Union by 31.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 373,410 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,455,000 after acquiring an additional 88,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Western Union by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 64,988 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $775,000 after acquiring an additional 5,745 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. 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 research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Union currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.11.

Western Union Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:WU opened at $10.48 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.79. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $10.04 and a 1-year high of $13.95.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.02). Western Union had a return on equity of 96.90% and a net margin of 22.19%. Sell-side analysts forecast 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, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.97%. Western Union’s payout ratio is currently 34.43%.

Western Union declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, December 13th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 27.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback 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.