Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Cuts Stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. decreased its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 16.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 400,751 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 79,395 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Western Union were worth $4,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Western Union by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,926,192 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $154,209,000 after acquiring an additional 52,081 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Western Union by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,179,698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $85,671,000 after purchasing an additional 25,458 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Western Union by 62.8% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,730,450 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,586,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,310 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Western Union by 52.0% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,337,466 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,880,800 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $22,438,000 after buying an additional 84,579 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WU has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Union presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.63.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of WU stock opened at $10.26 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The business has a 50 day moving average of $10.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.43. The company has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.26, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.85. The Western Union Company has a 52 week low of $10.19 and a 52 week high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.39% and a net margin of 16.07%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.17%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.21%.

Western Union declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, December 13th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.