In the latest trading session, Western Union (WU) closed at $7.00, marking a -2.51% move from the previous day. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.58%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 1.18%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.32%.
The money transfer company's stock has climbed by 2.13% in the past month, exceeding the Business Services sector's loss of 1.01% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.36%.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Western Union in its upcoming earnings disclosure. In that report, analysts expect Western Union to post earnings of $0.35 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 25.53%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $1.05 billion, up 1.6% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $1.29 per share and revenue of $4.13 billion. These totals would mark changes of -26.29% and +2.04%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Western Union should also be noted by investors. 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.
Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, 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 0.01% decrease. Western Union presently features a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell).
From a valuation perspective, Western Union is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 5.56. This expresses a discount compared to the average Forward P/E of 13.56 of its industry.
The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 184, 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 use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming 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).