Western Union shares tumble to their lowest in 3 yearsOctober 31, 2012 - 21:36 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Shares of Western Union tumbled to their lowest point in more than three years on Wednesday, Oct 31, as the company lowered its full-year earnings forecast, AP reports. On Tuesday Western Union cut its earnings guidance to a range of $1.60 to $1.63 per share from a previous projection of $1.68 to $1.72 per share. Analysts polled by FactSet expect earnings of $1.75 per share. For the third quarter, the company reported earnings of 45 cents per share on revenue of $1.42 billion. Wall Street predicted earnings of 45 cents per share on revenue of $1.47 billion. Western Union also announced that the Stewart Stockdale, president of global consumer financial services, has left the company. Citi Investment Research's Ashwin Shirvaikar said that Western Union's third-quarter performance was disappointing, as it deals with increased competition and difficult economic conditions. The analyst said that the revised full-year forecast implies slower earnings per share growth this year and likely declines in earnings per share next year. Weakening fundamentals and announced strategic changes — like price cuts — may add uncertainty to future prospects and feed into fears about the long-term competitive positioning of the business, Shirvaikar added. The analyst maintained a $24 price target and "Buy" rating. Thomas McCrohan of Janney Capital Markets lowered the company's price target to $20 from $24 and kept a "Buy" rating. In a client note the analyst said that while Western Union reported decent third-quarter results, its outlook is a bit lackluster. Western Union Co.'s shares fell $5.03, or 28.1 percent, to $12.90 in midday trading. The shares hit $12.48 earlier in the session, their lowest point since March 2009. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Government reveals details from Pashinyan’s meeting in border village Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with a group of residents of a border village in Armenia’s northern Tavush province Narek Manasyan wins European Boxing Championships silver for Armenia Armenia’s Narek Manasyan (92kg) won Armenia’s second silver medal at the European Boxing Championships 2024 on April 28. Blinken urges Azerbaijan to continue negotiations with Armenia Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has urged Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to continue negotiations with Armenia. Pashinyan, Blinken talk Armenia-U.S. ties over the phone Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on April 28, Pashinyan’s office reports. |