Western Union (WU) ended the recent trading session at $7.24, demonstrating a +2.99% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.1%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.35%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.43%.
The money transfer company's stock has dropped by 14.79% in the past month, falling short of the Business Services sector's loss of 2.53% and the S&P 500's loss of 1.34%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Western Union in its upcoming release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.43, up 2.38% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $1.04 billion, up 1.51% from the prior-year quarter.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $1.76 per share and a revenue of $4.26 billion, indicating changes of +0.57% and +5.21%, respectively, from the former year.
It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Western Union. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. Western Union currently has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
With respect to valuation, Western Union is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 4. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 10.21, which means Western Union is trading at a discount to the group.
Meanwhile, WU's PEG ratio is currently 0.9. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. Financial Transaction Services stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 0.75 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 78, putting it in the top 32% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.
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The Western Union Company (WU): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).