Guggenheim Capital LLC Acquires 15,560 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 248,820 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,560 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC’s holdings in Western Union were worth $2,637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Icon Advisers Inc. Co. raised its holdings in Western Union by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Icon Advisers Inc. Co. now owns 182,500 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after acquiring an additional 31,600 shares during the period. Mariner LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Union by 96.0% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 51,027 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 24,993 shares during the period. BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC acquired a new stake in Western Union during the 4th quarter worth approximately $114,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Western Union by 248.8% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 265,135 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,810,000 after purchasing an additional 189,125 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Western Union by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 19,621 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 3,660 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Union currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.11.

Western Union Stock Performance

NYSE:WU opened at $9.81 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 3.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.69. The Western Union Company has a twelve month low of $9.00 and a twelve month high of $13.93. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.72.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 was Monday, March 17th. Western Union’s payout ratio is 34.43%.

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.