Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $9.35 Million Stock Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 30.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 783,934 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 343,369 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Western Union were worth $9,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Western Union Price Performance

NYSE:WU opened at $10.86 on Tuesday. 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 50-day moving average of $11.49 and a 200-day moving average of $12.09. The Western Union Company has a 52 week low of $10.51 and a 52 week high of $14.19. The company has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.56, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.