Western Union (WU) closed at $6.02 in the latest trading session, marking a +2.03% move from the prior day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.2%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.04%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.04%.
The stock of money transfer company has fallen by 19.18% in the past month, lagging the Business Services sector's loss of 6.44% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.35%.
Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Western Union in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $0.35, showcasing a 25.53% downward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $1.05 billion, reflecting a 1.6% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $1.29 per share and revenue of $4.13 billion, which would represent changes of -26.29% and +2.04%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Western Union. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.
Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 0.28% decrease. Western Union presently features a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell).
In the context of valuation, Western Union is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 4.58. This denotes a discount relative to the industry average Forward P/E of 13.59.
The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 176, putting it in the bottom 29% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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The Western Union Company (WU): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).