** Oppenheimer initiates coverage of money transfer services provider Western Union WU.N with a "perform" rating

** Brokerage says WU is making progress defending its market share but we remain on the sidelines until we see clearer evidence of a sustained revenue growth turnaround

** WU continues to face headwinds from tightening U.S. immigration policy, intensifying competition from digital-native players and aggressive pricing from legacy cash-to-cash money remittance providers, brokerage says

** Adds we believe President Trump's administration's stance on immigration will continue to negatively impact Western Union and other money transfer competition

** 1 of 18 brokerages rate the stock "buy", 11 "hold" and 3 "sell" and 3 "strong sell"; their median PT is $10

** Including session's move, WU down 11.5% in the last 12 months

(Reporting by Pragyan Kalita in Bengaluru)

((Pragyan.Kalita@thomsonreuters.com))