Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 21.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 472,826 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 126,971 shares during the quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Western Union worth $5,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WU. Quarry LP raised its stake in Western Union by 52.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 895 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 31.1% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,316 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 1,024 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of Western Union by 0.5% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 238,876 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,849,000 after buying an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 1.4% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 88,410 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after buying an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in Western Union by 12.9% during the third quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 13,177 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,508 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Union Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE WU opened at $10.44 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $10.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The Western Union Company has a 12-month low of $10.19 and a 12-month high of $14.19. The company has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.39% and a net margin of 16.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. Western Union’s payout ratio is 48.21%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on WU. UBS Group reduced their target price on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut 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 report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Western Union currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.