Western Union (NYSE:WU) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.04 EPS

Western Union (NYSE:WU) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The credit services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.04, Briefing.com reports. 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 14.37% and a return on equity of 113.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. Western Union updated its FY24 guidance to $1.70-1.80 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 1.700-1.800 EPS.

Western Union Stock Performance

Western Union stock opened at $13.59 on Thursday. Western Union has a 12-month low of $10.37 and a 12-month high of $14.19. The company has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $13.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.61.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.92%. Western Union’s payout ratio is 55.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt began coverage on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.25.

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.