Vise Technologies Inc. Grows Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 55.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,325 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,013 shares during the quarter. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in Western Union were worth $565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Western Union in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in shares of Western Union by 1,487.6% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 3,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 2,886 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its position in shares of Western Union by 662.7% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,722 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 3,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Western Union by 267.5% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 2,790 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Union Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of WU opened at $9.42 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $9.98 and a 200 day moving average of $10.44. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $9.00 and a fifty-two week high of $13.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.20.

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

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.98%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Western Union’s payout ratio is presently 35.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WU. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered Western Union from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $7.50 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Union currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.78.

About Western Union

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.