Western Union (NYSE:WU) Releases FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Western Union (NYSE:WU) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 1.700-1.800 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 1.700. The company issued revenue guidance of $4.2 billion-$4.2 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $4.1 billion. Western Union also updated its FY24 guidance to $1.70-1.80 EPS.

Western Union Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Western Union stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $13.47. The company had a trading volume of 3,824,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,471,575. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $13.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.61. 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 has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a PE ratio of 7.86, a P/E/G ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 0.85. Western Union has a fifty-two week low of $10.37 and a fifty-two week high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.05. Western Union had a return on equity of 111.53% and a net margin of 14.12%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. Western Union’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Western Union will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.98%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. William Blair reissued a market perform rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an underperform rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Union presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $13.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Union news, Director Timothy P. Murphy purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $12.85 per share, for a total transaction 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.