In the latest close session, Western Union (WU) was down 1.13% at $8.74. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 0.21%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.25%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.45%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the money transfer company had gained 9.95% outpaced the Business Services sector's gain of 1.89% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.07%.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Western Union in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $0.43, reflecting a 6.52% decrease from the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $1.02 billion, down 1.39% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $1.7 per share and revenue of $4.08 billion, which would represent changes of -2.3% and -3.06%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Western Union. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.01% higher. At present, Western Union boasts a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
In terms of valuation, Western Union is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 5.2. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 15.01, which means Western Union is trading at a discount to the group.
We can additionally observe that WU currently boasts a PEG ratio of 3.03. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. WU's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.26 as of yesterday's close.
The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 52, placing it within the top 22% of over 250 industries.
