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In the latest trading session, Western Union (WU) closed at $10.52, marking a -1.77% move from the previous day. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 0.73%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.16%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.98%.
Shares of the money transfer company witnessed a loss of 3.16% over the previous month, trailing the performance of the Business Services sector with its gain of 0.33% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.34%.
Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Western Union in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $0.42, reflecting a 13.51% increase from the same quarter last year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $1.03 billion, reflecting a 2.48% fall from the equivalent quarter last year.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $1.77 per share and a revenue of $4.18 billion, indicating changes of +1.72% and -4.11%, respectively, from the former year.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Western Union. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. Currently, Western Union is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Digging into valuation, Western Union currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 6.06. This signifies a discount in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 15.54 for its industry.
We can additionally observe that WU currently boasts a PEG ratio of 1.5. 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 1.26 at yesterday's closing price.
The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 75, this industry ranks in the top 30% of all industries, numbering over 250.