Advisors Asset Management Inc. Has $3.86 Million Stock Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 41.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 276,144 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 197,229 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.08% of Western Union worth $3,860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $300,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Union by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 841,034 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,057,000 after acquiring an additional 138,915 shares during the last quarter. Insight Folios Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union during the first quarter valued at approximately $5,388,000. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Western Union by 24.2% during the first quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 559,248 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,818,000 after acquiring an additional 109,014 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Western Union by 5.5% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,252,897 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,516,000 after acquiring an additional 65,087 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Union Price Performance

NYSE:WU traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $12.80. 3,076,918 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,954,336. The firm has a market cap of $4.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.85. The Western Union Company has a 52 week low of $10.92 and a 52 week high of $14.19. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.76% and a net margin of 14.12%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.34%. Western Union’s payout ratio is 55.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WU has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.67.

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.