Intech Investment Management LLC Increases Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 1,735.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 275,227 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 260,236 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Western Union worth $3,283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WU. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Western Union by 7,569.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,905,891 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $194,405,000 after acquiring an additional 13,724,584 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,736,930 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $118,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462,853 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 62.8% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,730,450 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $45,586,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,310 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Western Union by 52.0% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,337,466 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,784,000 after buying an additional 1,142,400 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Western Union by 5,731.4% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 787,943 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,629,000 after buying an additional 774,431 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on WU. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.86.

Western Union Price Performance

NYSE WU opened at $11.06 on Friday. The Western Union Company has a one year low of $10.51 and a one year high of $14.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $11.38 and a 200 day moving average of $12.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.67, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.87.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 120.39%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

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.