Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Buys 12,261 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 33.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,286 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,261 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Western Union were worth $587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Western Union by 155.3% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,576,970 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $90,565,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000,880 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Western Union by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,774,680 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $617,958,000 after purchasing an additional 3,522,420 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Western Union by 106.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,550,664 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $61,890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,859,852 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new position in Western Union in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,843,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Western Union in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,041,000. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Union news, Director Timothy P. Murphy bought 10,000 shares of Western Union stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $12.85 per share, for a total transaction of $128,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 56,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $722,234.25. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Stock Performance

NYSE:WU opened at $12.93 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $13.34 and its 200 day moving average is $12.60. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $10.37 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of 7.64, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. Western Union had a return on equity of 113.63% and a net margin of 14.37%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.27%. Western Union’s payout ratio is 55.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.25.

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.