Western Union (WU) closed the most recent trading day at $7.82, moving +1.3% from the previous trading session. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 0.81%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.27%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.3%.
Shares of the money transfer company have appreciated by 5.03% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Business Services sector's gain of 2.42%, and the S&P 500's gain of 1.13%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Western Union in its upcoming release. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $0.43, signifying a 2.38% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $1.04 billion, up 1.51% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $1.76 per share and a revenue of $4.26 billion, demonstrating changes of +0.57% and +5.21%, respectively, from the preceding year.
It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Western Union. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the business and profitability.
Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. 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, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained steady. Western Union is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
In terms of valuation, Western Union is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 4.39. This indicates a discount in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 11.35.
One should further note that WU currently holds a PEG ratio of 0.98. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. The Financial Transaction Services was holding an average PEG ratio of 0.81 at yesterday's closing price.
The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 65, which puts it in the top 27% 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.
Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in 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).