Western Union (WU) closed at $6.18 in the latest trading session, marking a +2.49% move from the prior day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.51%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.93%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.48%.
Heading into today, shares of the money transfer company had lost 16.37% over the past month, lagging the Business Services sector's loss of 6.07% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.74%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Western Union in its upcoming release. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $0.35, marking a 25.53% fall compared to the same quarter of the previous 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.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $1.29 per share and a revenue of $4.13 billion, indicating changes of -26.29% and +2.04%, respectively, from the former year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Western Union. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.
Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. 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, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained steady. At present, Western Union boasts a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell).
Looking at valuation, Western Union is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 4.67. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 12.54.
The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 183, positioning it in the bottom 26% 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many 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).