Western Union (NYSE:WU) Posts Earnings Results

Western Union (NYSE:WU) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.04, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 113.63% and a net margin of 14.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. Western Union updated its FY24 guidance to $1.70-1.80 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 1.700-1.800 EPS.

Western Union Stock Performance

NYSE:WU opened at $13.59 on Thursday. Western Union has a twelve month low of $10.37 and a twelve month high of $14.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.09, a PEG ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.85. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.61.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.92%. Western Union’s payout ratio is 55.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on WU. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt initiated coverage on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy P. Murphy purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $12.85 per share, with a total value of $128,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 56,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $722,234.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by 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.