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

Farringdon Capital Ltd. acquired a new position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,418 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $142,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Western Union by 202.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,661,732 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $60,014,000 after purchasing an additional 3,792,683 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in Western Union by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,021,308 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $95,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,194,403 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Western Union during the 4th quarter worth approximately $22,984,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Western Union in the 4th quarter worth approximately $22,848,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in 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. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Union Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WU opened at $9.81 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $10.45 and its 200 day moving average is $10.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04. The Western Union Company has a 52 week low of $9.00 and a 52 week high of $13.93. The stock has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 3.59, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.69.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on WU. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated 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 reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.11.

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.