Western Union (WU) ended the recent trading session at $9.53, demonstrating a -1.75% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.54%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.03%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.18%.
Heading into today, shares of the money transfer company had gained 3.85% over the past month, outpacing the Business Services sector's loss of 5.61% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.58%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Western Union in its forthcoming earnings report. In that report, analysts expect Western Union to post earnings of $0.41 per share. This would mark no growth from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $969.86 million, down 1.4% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $1.79 per share and a revenue of $4.19 billion, demonstrating changes of +2.29% and +3.49%, respectively, from the preceding 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. 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 capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.27% higher within the past month. Western Union currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Looking at valuation, Western Union is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 5.42. This indicates a discount in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 9.22.
It's also important to note that WU currently trades at a PEG ratio of 1.89. 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. The Financial Transaction Services was holding an average PEG ratio of 0.96 at yesterday's closing price.
The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 179, finds itself in the bottom 27% echelons 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.
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The Western Union Company (WU): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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