Western Union FY2026 EPS Forecast Lowered by William Blair

Key Points

• William Blair has lowered its FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimate for Western Union to $1.78, down from $1.89, which is below the current consensus estimate of $1.79.
• Western Union reported a quarterly EPS of $0.42, missing analysts' expectations of $0.44, with year-over-year revenue declining by 3.8% to $1.03 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.235 per share, reflecting an annual yield of 11.60% and a dividend payout ratio of 35.61%.

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) - Stock analysts at William Blair dropped their FY2026 EPS estimates for shares of Western Union in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, July 29th. William Blair analyst C. Kennedy now expects that the credit services provider will post earnings of $1.78 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $1.89. The consensus estimate for Western Union's current full-year earnings is $1.79 per share.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.02). Western Union had a return on equity of 66.11% and a net margin of 21.83%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. Western Union's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Barclays set a $8.00 target price on shares of Western Union and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $9.00 target price (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Western Union from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $9.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $8.61.

Western Union Stock Performance

WU stock traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $7.92. The company had a trading volume of 9,651,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,750,461. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $8.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.75. Western Union has a fifty-two week low of $7.90 and a fifty-two week high of $12.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a PE ratio of 3.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.61.

Institutional Trading of Western Union

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,055,661 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $403,390,000 after acquiring an additional 317,711 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,983,265 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $307,224,000 after acquiring an additional 4,426,126 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,217,217 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $139,838,000 after acquiring an additional 728,138 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,041,493 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $136,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Western Union by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,175,171 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $75,913,000 after acquiring an additional 110,902 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.9%. Western Union's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.61%.

Western Union Company Profile

The Western Union Company provides money movement and payment services worldwide. The company operates through Consumer Money Transfer and Consumer Services segments. The Consumer Money Transfer segment facilitates money transfers for international cross-border and intra-country transfers, primarily through a network of retail agent locations, as well as through websites and mobile devices.