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Western Union (WU) closed the most recent trading day at $10.70, moving -0.56% from the previous trading session. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.08%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.92%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 1.41%.
Coming into today, shares of the money transfer company had lost 0.92% in the past month. In that same time, the Business Services sector lost 12.62%, while the S&P 500 lost 8.26%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Western Union in its upcoming release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.44, down 2.22% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $1.01 billion, down 3.75% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $1.79 per share and a revenue of $4.14 billion, demonstrating changes of +2.87% and -1.75%, respectively, from the preceding year.
Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Western Union. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. 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, 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 0.48% decrease. Western Union currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
From a valuation perspective, Western Union is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 6.01. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 15.27, which means Western Union is trading at a discount to the group.
Also, we should mention that WU has a PEG ratio of 1.32. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Financial Transaction Services industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.4 as trading concluded yesterday.
The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 135, positioning it in the bottom 47% of all 250+ industries.