Western Union (NYSE:WU) Announces Stock Buyback Program

Western Union (NYSE:WU) announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, December 13th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Union Stock Performance

WU stock traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $10.76. 3,090,656 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,099,535. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 5.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $11.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.80. Western Union has a 52 week low of $10.51 and a 52 week high of $14.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.02. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.39% and a net margin of 16.07%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Western Union will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.74%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Barclays reduced their price objective on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Union currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.63.

About Western Union

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.