Farringdon Capital Ltd. Purchases Shares of 13,418 The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 13,418 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $142,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,055,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $403,390,000 after purchasing an additional 317,711 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Western Union by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,489,079 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $132,384,000 after acquiring an additional 549,931 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of Western Union by 32.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,194,403 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,305,933 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $66,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857,012 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 202.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,661,732 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $60,014,000 after purchasing an additional 3,792,683 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Western Union Price Performance

WU opened at $9.81 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $10.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The Western Union Company has a 1 year low of $9.00 and a 1 year high of $13.93.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.02). Western Union had a net margin of 22.19% and a return on equity of 96.90%. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Western Union’s payout ratio is 34.43%.

Western Union 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.