Renaissance Technologies LLC Grows Stock Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 70.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 991,900 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 411,500 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Western Union were worth $10,514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WU. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Western Union by 202.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,661,732 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $60,014,000 after acquiring an additional 3,792,683 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of Western Union by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,021,308 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $95,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,194,403 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Western Union in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $22,984,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in Western Union during the 4th quarter valued at $22,848,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Western Union by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,305,933 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $66,843,000 after buying an additional 1,857,012 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on WU shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Union presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.11.

Western Union Price Performance

WU opened at $9.79 on Thursday. The Western Union Company has a twelve month low of $9.00 and a twelve month high of $13.93. The firm has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.59, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.75.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.02). Western Union had a net margin of 22.19% and a return on equity of 96.90%. Equities research analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.43%.

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.