Headlands Technologies LLC Purchases Shares of 8,564 The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 8,564 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $102,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Western Union by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 56,476 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 0.5% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 169,552 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,235,000 after acquiring an additional 842 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Western Union by 0.5% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 197,250 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Edmp Inc. grew its stake in shares of Western Union by 7.4% in the third quarter. Edmp Inc. now owns 17,704 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Western Union by 23.2% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,793 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 1,278 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WU has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Monness Crespi & Hardt began coverage on Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.45.

Insider Activity

In other Western Union news, Director Timothy P. Murphy purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $12.85 per share, for a total transaction of $128,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,205 shares in the company, valued at $722,234.25. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WU opened at $13.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $13.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.61. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $10.37 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 120.76%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that The Western Union Company will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.96%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Western Union’s payout ratio is 55.62%.

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.