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Why the Market Dipped But Western Union (WU) Gained Today

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In the latest close session, Western Union (WU - Free Report) was up +1.44% at $7.03. The stock's performance was ahead of the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.48%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.29%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.56%.

The stock of money transfer company has fallen by 6.98% in the past month, lagging the Business Services sector's loss of 2.87% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.82%.

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 $0.35, down 25.53% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $1.05 billion, up 1.6% from the year-ago period.

WU's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $1.29 per share and revenue of $4.13 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -26.29% and +2.04%, respectively.

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. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent 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 varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.01% downward. Western Union presently features a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell).

From a valuation perspective, Western Union is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 5.37. This expresses a discount compared to the average Forward P/E of 13.14 of its industry.

The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 178, putting it in the bottom 28% of all 250+ industries.

The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.

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