Western Union: Immigration boosts money transfers

Posted Jul 25th 2007 1:48PM by Steven Halpern
Filed under: Newsletters, Mexico, Western Union (WU), Bargain Stocks, Stocks to Buy

While media pundits and politicians debate the pros and cons of immigration, one thing is clear -- the number of immigrants both in the U.S. and worldwide is growing rapidly. And, according to Nathan Slaughter, these workers are using money transfers to send funds back to their home countries.

In his Half-Priced Stocks newsletter, the advisor turns to Western Union (NYSE: WU) as a beneficiary of this trend. He considers the company a "venerable blue chip" that is significantly undervalued.

Slaughter notes, "With more than 300,000 agent locations worldwide, Western Union is clearly the dominant player in the money-transfer industry -- it boasts a network three times as large as its closest rival."

Meanwhile, Slaughter points out that the firm recently announced that it had joined with financial services firm Checksmart to offer its services in 263 locations. This new partnership, he points out, follows a flurry of recent deals that have seen Western Union pick up more than 1,400 locations in Mexico, Italy, and Spain.

The advisor says, "And because costs associated with adding new stores to the network are modest, the additional revenues generated by these contracts should fall nicely to the bottom line."

Last quarter alone, he notes, the firm processed more than 138 million transactions, an impressive 46% year-over-year increase that pushed revenues well past the $1 billion mark. And going forward, he says, "We expect both of those totals to continue climbing at a healthy pace."

As to the impact of immigration, he suggests, "The population of immigrants continues to swell worldwide, meaning tens of millions of workers will be sending money back home to their families on a regular basis."

He concludes, "With a commanding lead in this demographic-driven business, we think Western Union is worth $32 per share -- about 55% above where the stock is currently trading. As such, this venerable blue-chip firm has one of the market's most attractive risk-to-reward profiles."

Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com features the latest investment ideas and market commentary from the financial newsletter community.

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