Morgan Stanley Cuts Western Union (NYSE:WU) Price Target to $9.00

Western Union (NYSE:WU) had its target price dropped by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $10.00 to $9.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underweight” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 13.42% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group dropped 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.22.

Western Union Stock Up 1.2 %

WU stock opened at $10.40 on Wednesday. Western Union has a fifty-two week low of $10.04 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $10.61 and a 200-day moving average of $11.27. The company has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.33, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.85. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.02). Western Union had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 120.39%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Western Union will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, December 13th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 27.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Union

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Western Union by 41.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,305,933 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $66,843,000 after buying an additional 1,857,012 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Union during the third quarter valued at about $11,726,000. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Union during the third quarter valued at about $8,124,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union during the third quarter worth about $6,190,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Western Union in the third quarter worth about $3,663,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

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.