The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Assigned A Consensus Hold Rating

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) stock is presently standing at about $19.58 and lots of equity research firms seem to have a target price set on the stock. The median one-year price target of 16 analysts covering the company is $18.50, which suggests the stock could still rise over -6 percent. The highest analyst price target is $24.00, which implies a rally of 77 percent. And a quick view of analyst notes show that 0 are rating the stock a buy while 4 rate WU a strong buy. There are 13 equity research firms advocating a Hold and 3 consider it Sell.

Compass Point analysts provided their view on The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) recently. The rating firm issued a Sell rating to this company in a research note released on Jan 20, 2017. Guggenheim analysts disclosed their opinion on The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) recently. The rating firm gave a Neutral rating to this stock in a research note published on Jan 05, 2017. According to a research note disclosed on Sep 19, 2016, analysts at Susquehanna have lowered their rating on these shares from Neutral to Negative.

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Transactions Roundup

Several insiders were part of recent insider activity for the stock. Its Chief Acct. Officer Schenkel Amintore sold 6,833 company shares for 135160, in a transaction on 2017-03-01. Following the transaction, the Chief Acct. Officer is left with a stake of 79,194 shares, currently valued at $1550619. Meanwhile, EVP & Chief Human Res. Ofcr. Williams Richard L purchased 300 shares worth $5850, through a transaction dated 2017-02-16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider is left with a stake of 34,553 shares, amounting $676547.74. WU Director MILES MICHAEL also sold 21,281 shares, at a stock price of $20.37. This transaction occurred on 2016-09-28 totals $433490. After this transaction, the insider’s stake stands at 105,538 shares, with a market value of $2066434.

Executives hold 0.67 percent of the stock. Ms. Christina A. Gold is one of the biggest insider owners in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU), according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings. The insider owns 597,572 shares which have current market value of around $11700459.76.Mr. Hikmet Ersek is another major inside shareholder in the company. The insider owns 562,303 shares as of 0.12%, currently worth $11009892.74. Mr. Rajesh K. Agrawal is ranked as third insider holder of the stock. This insider holds 177,840 shares with a market value around $3482107.2 as of recent close.

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Earnings Outlook

In The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)’s latest quarter, EPS moved to $0.47 from $0.44 in preceding quarter and revenues reached at $1,371.70M compared to $1,377.80M. Analysts had expected The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) to post net income of about $0.43 per share on $1,372.99M in revenue. Looking ahead, analysts on average predict that earnings for the current quarter would come in in the range of $0.37 to $0.45. That is compared with the $0.37 in EPS it reported during the same period a year ago.