Oak Thistle LLC Acquires 101,565 Shares of The Western Union Company $WU

Oak Thistle LLC raised its holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 59.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 271,829 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 101,565 shares during the quarter. Oak Thistle LLC’s holdings in Western Union were worth $2,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 43.3% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 122,542 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,296,000 after buying an additional 37,042 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Western Union by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 51,469 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $545,000 after acquiring an additional 4,208 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Western Union in the 1st quarter valued at $7,421,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 57,547 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $608,000 after acquiring an additional 2,140 shares during the period. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Union in the first quarter worth $110,000. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Union news, insider Giovanni Angelini acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.95 per share, with a total value of $89,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 186,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,041.40. The trade was a 5.65% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on WU. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Western Union from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Western Union to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Western Union from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Union currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $8.70.

Western Union Stock Performance

NYSE:WU opened at $9.61 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $8.79 and its 200-day moving average is $8.58. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $7.85 and a 1-year high of $11.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.52.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 18.80% and a return on equity of 60.85%. Western Union’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. Western Union has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.650-1.750 EPS. Equities 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 will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 22nd. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.8%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is 41.05%.

Western Union Company 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.