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

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 4th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.235 per share by the credit services provider on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.04%.

Western Union has a dividend payout ratio of 49.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Stock Performance

NYSE:WU traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $10.40. The company had a trading volume of 9,254,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,910,602. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $10.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.30. The firm has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.33, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. Western Union has a 52 week low of $10.04 and a 52 week high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.02). Western Union had a return on equity of 120.39% and a net margin of 16.07%. On average, analysts forecast that Western Union will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Western Union declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price target on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com raised Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays dropped their price target on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of 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 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 an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.63.

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.