Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Has $762,000 Stock Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 129.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 71,855 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,548 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Western Union were worth $762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Western Union in the third quarter worth about $11,726,000. Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,124,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Union during the third quarter worth approximately $6,190,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Western Union in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,663,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Western Union by 20.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,698,559 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,264,000 after acquiring an additional 283,479 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Trading Down 5.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WU opened at $10.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.88, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.85. The Western Union Company has a 12 month low of $10.04 and a 12 month high of $14.19. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted 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 96.90% and a net margin of 22.19%. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, December 13th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 27.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Susquehanna cut their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group decreased their target price on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.11.

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.