The Western Union Company (WU) Position Increased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 22.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,408,111 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 437,683 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in The Western Union were worth $41,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WU. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in The Western Union by 53,019.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,221,152 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $556,956,000 after purchasing an additional 29,166,142 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of The Western Union by 6,210.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,150,165 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $174,402,000 after acquiring an additional 9,005,165 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of The Western Union by 83.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 11,775,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $224,432,000 after acquiring an additional 5,353,000 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Western Union by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 46,384,514 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $791,319,000 after acquiring an additional 4,686,559 shares during the period. Finally, Investec Asset Management LTD bought a new stake in shares of The Western Union in the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,366,000.

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In related news, EVP Caroline Tsai sold 2,440 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.51, for a total transaction of $45,164.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,446.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Roberto G. Mendoza sold 18,709 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.14, for a total value of $339,381.26. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 78,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,425,749.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,099 shares of company stock valued at $787,328 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

WU has been the subject of a number of research reports. Zacks Investment Research downgraded The Western Union from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 12th. Barclays initiated coverage on The Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, November 14th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on The Western Union in a research report on Thursday, December 6th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Co downgraded The Western Union from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, November 6th. Finally, ValuEngine downgraded The Western Union from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. The Western Union has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.00.

Shares of The Western Union stock traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $18.06. 1,114,912 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,958,169. The company has a market capitalization of $7.90 billion, a PE ratio of 9.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.94. The Western Union Company has a 52 week low of $16.42 and a 52 week high of $21.37.

The Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, hitting the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.49. The business had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. The Western Union had a negative return on equity of 225.33% and a net margin of 15.24%. The Western Union’s revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.87 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from The Western Union’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.58%.

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The Western Union Profile

The Western Union Company provides money movement and payment services worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Consumer-to-Consumer and Business Solutions. The Consumer-to-Consumer segment facilitates money transfers between two consumers, primarily through a network of third-party agents. This segment offers international cross-border transfers and intra-country transfers, as well as money transfer transactions through Websites and mobile devices.

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