UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Downgrades Western Union to Neutral, Lowers PT to $19
Western Union assumes a Neutral rating on Western Union Co. (NYSE: WU) from a previous Overweight and lowers its target price to $19 from $26 as the company has made progress but needs greater growth for outperformance.
Piper Jaffray says, “Although we believe WU is attractively valued at 7x '12E EBITDA and a 12% FCF yield, we struggle to find near-term catalysts for the stock. WU has proven to be a stable business, but the stock has not performed after beating estimates 1Q11-3Q11 and raising '11 guidance in July. In our view, WU's initiatives in B2B transfer and prepaid cards are encouraging, but the Street is looking for more as revenue growth has been in the low-single digits since '09, and WU's opportunities are at least few quarters away from moving the needle.”
WU closed at $17.44 per share on Wednesday.
