SG Americas Securities LLC Buys New Shares in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU – Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 23,741 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WU. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Western Union by 7,569.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,905,891 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $194,405,000 after purchasing an additional 13,724,584 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Western Union in the 4th quarter valued at $27,925,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in Western Union by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 7,460,960 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $88,935,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627,822 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union in the first quarter valued at $12,051,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Western Union by 351.3% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 959,162 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,434,000 after acquiring an additional 746,625 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of shares are held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of WU stock opened at $11.68 on Friday. The Western Union Company has a 52-week low of $10.92 and a 52-week high of $14.19. The company has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.91, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98, a quick ratio of 1.05, and a current ratio of 1.05.

Western Union (NYSE:WU – Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.01). Western Union had a return on equity of 123.71% and a net margin of 13.64%. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted earnings of $0.51 per share. Western Union’s revenue was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents an annualized dividend of $0.94 and a yield of 8.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16. Western Union’s payout rate is currently 55.62%.

Changes in Analyst Ratings

WU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com lowered Western Union from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.14, according to MarketBeat.

Read our latest research report on WU

Western Union Company Profile

(Free report)

The Western Union Company provides money movement and payment services worldwide. The Company operates through the 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.

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