In the latest trading session, Western Union (WU) closed at $9.30, marking a +1.53% move from the previous day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.26%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.24%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.36%.
Shares of the money transfer company have appreciated by 1.89% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Business Services sector's gain of 1.65%, and lagging the S&P 500's gain of 5.98%.
Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Western Union in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to go public on April 24, 2026. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $0.4, marking a 2.44% fall compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $968.05 million, indicating a 1.58% decrease compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
WU's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $1.79 per share and revenue of $4.18 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +2.29% and +3.22%, respectively.
It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Western Union. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional 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 moved 0.08% lower. As of now, Western Union holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Western Union has a Forward P/E ratio of 5.13 right now. This represents a discount compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 11.15.
One should further note that WU currently holds a PEG ratio of 1.79. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. WU's industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.93 as of yesterday's close.
The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 147, positioning it in the bottom 40% 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.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming 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).