Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Grows Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 119.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 199,082 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 108,388 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP’s holdings in Western Union were worth $2,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WU. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Union by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,055,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $403,390,000 after purchasing an additional 317,711 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Western Union by 18.0% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 4,426,126 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 549,931 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 39.0% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,206,431 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $118,788,000 after acquiring an additional 3,146,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of Western Union by 32.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,194,403 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on WU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $10.50 price objective (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Western Union from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.78.

Western Union Stock Performance

NYSE WU opened at $9.66 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $10.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.56. The Western Union Company has a 52-week low of $9.00 and a 52-week high of $13.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $983.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 96.90% and a net margin of 22.19%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current year.

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.