Western Union (WU) Registers a Bigger Fall Than the Market: Important Facts to Note

In the latest close session, Western Union (WU) was down 2.79% at $8.35. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 0.33%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 0.63%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq decreased by 0.22%.

Coming into today, shares of the money transfer company had lost 5.91% in the past month. In that same time, the Business Services sector lost 2.01%, while the S&P 500 gained 4.07%.

Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Western Union in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.44, unchanged from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $1.03 billion, down 3.59% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $1.77 per share and revenue of $4.12 billion. These totals would mark changes of +1.72% and -2.18%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Western Union. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.

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.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 0.27% decrease. Right now, Western Union possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at valuation, Western Union is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 4.86. This denotes a discount relative to the industry average Forward P/E of 16.76.

Also, we should mention that WU has a PEG ratio of 2.43. 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. The average PEG ratio for the Financial Transaction Services industry stood at 1.33 at the close of the market yesterday.

The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 65, placing it within the top 27% of over 250 industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow WU in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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