The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Receives $8.82 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) has earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and nine have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $8.8182.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Friday, May 22nd.

Western Union Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE WU opened at $8.14 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.88. Western Union has a 1-year low of $7.85 and a 1-year high of $10.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $8.86 and a 200-day moving average of $9.18. The company has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.98, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.50.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.15). Western Union had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 55.94%. The business had revenue of $963.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Western Union has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.750-1.850 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Western Union will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. Western Union’s payout ratio is presently 69.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Benjamin Carlton Adams sold 19,924 shares of Western Union stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.23, for a total value of $183,898.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 234,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,166,179.47. The trade was a 7.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Giovanni Angelini sold 6,000 shares of Western Union stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.47, for a total transaction of $56,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 311,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,947,935.24. The trade was a 1.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 3.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Western Union by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,471,400 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $320,929,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,810 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Western Union by 28.0% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 16,948,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $135,417,000 after acquiring an additional 3,708,291 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Western Union by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,984,472 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $130,195,000 after acquiring an additional 580,264 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Western Union by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,081,062 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $121,785,000 after acquiring an additional 624,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Western Union by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,746,779 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $99,891,000 after acquiring an additional 962,341 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Western Union Company Profile

Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments. The company enables individuals and businesses to send and receive money through a variety of channels, including its vast agent network, online platforms, and mobile applications. Core services include person-to-person money transfers, business-to-business cross-border payments, bill payment services and prepaid card programs.

Through its digital offerings, Western Union provides customers with the ability to initiate transfers via its website and mobile app, as well as track transactions in real time.