Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Has $535,000 Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 29.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 50,573 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 21,282 shares during the quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Western Union were worth $535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 worth $403,390,000 after acquiring an additional 317,711 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,983,265 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $307,224,000 after buying an additional 4,426,126 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,489,079 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $132,384,000 after buying an additional 549,931 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 39.0% during 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 buying an additional 3,146,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings 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 last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Union Stock Down 0.5%

WU opened at $8.47 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $9.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.14. The Western Union Company has a twelve month low of $8.36 and a twelve month high of $13.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.68.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $983.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 77.19% and a net margin of 22.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered Western Union from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $7.50 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Western Union in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $10.50 price target (down from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.78.

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.