The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.24

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, December 13th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd will be paid a dividend of 0.235 per share by the credit services provider on Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.74%.

Western Union has increased its dividend by an average of 1.5% annually over the last three years. Western Union has a dividend payout ratio of 51.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Western Union to earn $1.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.94 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 51.4%.

Western Union Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of WU stock opened at $10.76 on Friday. Western Union has a 1-year low of $10.51 and a 1-year high of $14.19. The firm has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 5.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $11.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WU shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.63.

Western Union announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, December 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to purchase up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Western Union Company 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.