San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 66,306 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $703,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in 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 boosted its position in Western Union by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,179,698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $85,671,000 after acquiring an additional 25,458 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Western Union by 62.8% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,730,450 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,586,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439,310 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,142,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in Western Union by 4.7% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 84,579 shares during the period. 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 research reports. Barclays cut their target price on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.63.

Western Union Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Western Union stock opened at $10.48 on Wednesday. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $10.19 and a 1-year high of $14.19. The company has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of 5.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $10.74 and a 200-day moving average of $11.49.

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

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.97%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.21%.

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

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.