Impact Partnership Wealth LLC Trims Stock Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Impact Partnership Wealth LLC trimmed its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 30.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,527 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 10,754 shares during the period. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC’s holdings in Western Union were worth $260,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WU. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Western Union during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Western Union by 52.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 895 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Western Union by 89.3% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,226 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,522 shares during the period. Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Western Union in the third quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Western Union in the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on WU. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group cut their price target on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. 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 research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.63.

Western Union Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:WU opened at $10.25 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $10.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.40. The company has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a PE ratio of 5.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 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. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.39% and a net margin of 16.07%. The business’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.18%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. Western Union’s payout ratio is currently 48.21%.

Western Union declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, December 13th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to repurchase up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Union 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.