Western Union (NYSE:WU) Releases FY24 Earnings Guidance

Western Union (NYSE:WU) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $1.70-1.80 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70. The company issued revenue guidance of $4.125-4.200 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $4.13 billion.

Western Union Stock Performance

WU traded up $0.19 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $13.59. The stock had a trading volume of 5,718,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,438,921. The firm has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a PE ratio of 7.97, a P/E/G ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.85. Western Union has a 12 month low of $10.37 and a 12 month high of $14.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.23. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.60.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.04. Western Union had a net margin of 14.37% and a return on equity of 113.63%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Western Union will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.92%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on WU. Wolfe Research restated an underperform rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Monness Crespi & Hardt initiated coverage on shares of Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a neutral rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $13.25.

Insider Transactions at Western Union

In other Western Union news, Director Timothy P. Murphy acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $12.85 per share, for a total transaction of $128,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 56,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $722,234.25. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Western Union Company 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.