CreativeOne Wealth LLC Acquires Shares of 12,030 The Western Union Company $WU

CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 12,030 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $127,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in Western Union by 1,487.6% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 3,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 2,886 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Western Union by 80.2% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,264 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in Western Union by 464.3% in the 1st quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 3,397 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 2,795 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Western Union by 188.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,803 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 2,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Western Union in the 1st quarter valued at about $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE WU opened at $8.73 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $8.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. The Western Union Company has a 52-week low of $7.89 and a 52-week high of $12.40.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 21.83% and a return on equity of 66.11%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. Western Union has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.650-1.750 EPS. Analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.8%. Western Union’s payout ratio is presently 35.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Matthew Cagwin purchased 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $8.36 per share, with a total value of $146,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 225,611 shares in the company, valued at $1,886,107.96. This represents a 8.41% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Devin Mcgranahan purchased 176,470 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.49 per share, for a total transaction of $1,498,230.30. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 913,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,752,431.25. This represents a 23.96% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Western Union from $10.50 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Western Union in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $9.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $10.00 price target on shares of Western Union in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Union presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $8.61.

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.