Western Union (WU) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Western Union Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: WU) is a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments. The company offers a broad array of services to consumers and businesses worldwide, including person-to-person money transfers, bill payments, money orders and business payment solutions. Through its extensive network of agent locations, digital platforms and strategic partnerships, Western Union facilitates the secure, convenient and fast movement of funds across more than 200 countries and territories.

Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company, Western Union pioneered telegraphic communications before expanding into financial services in the 20th century. Over the decades, the company has transformed its business model to meet evolving customer needs, integrating advanced digital technologies, mobile apps and online channels to complement its traditional retail money transfer network. This rich heritage has established Western Union as a trusted name in global payments for over 170 years.

The company's core consumer offerings include money transfers via Western Union agent locations, mobile and online transfers through the Western Union website and mobile app, and prepaid card services. It also serves business clients with cross-border, cross-currency payment solutions designed to streamline international payrolls, supplier disbursements and commercial transactions. Western Union continuously invests in digital innovation, regulatory compliance and risk management to enhance speed, reliability and security in its payment products.

Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Western Union operates a hybrid model combining a vast agent network with digital capabilities, enabling customers to send and receive money in cash or directly to bank accounts and mobile wallets. Under the leadership of President and CEO Devin McGranahan and a seasoned management team, the company is focused on driving growth in its digital channels, expanding its B2B services and leveraging strategic partnerships to capture new opportunities in the global payments landscape.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $8.54 to $8.83
• 50-Day Range: $8.38 to $9.99
• 52-Week Range: $8.29 to $13.12
• Volume: 9.94 million shs
• Average Volume: 5.58 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $2.87 billion
• P/E Ratio: 3.24
• Dividend Yield: 10.82%
• Price Target: $10.78
• Consensus Rating: Reduce

Western Union Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Western Union scored higher than 87% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 17th out of 303 stocks in the business services sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.8 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Reduce

Consensus Rating

Western Union has received a consensus rating of Reduce. The company's average rating score is 1.64, and is based on no buy ratings, 7 hold ratings, and 4 sell ratings.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Western Union has been the subject of 7 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 6.70%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Western Union are expected to grow by 6.70% in the coming year, from $1.79 to $1.91 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Western Union is 3.24, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 25.99.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Western Union is 3.24, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Business Services sector average P/E ratio of about 28.66.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Western Union has a PEG Ratio of 1.40. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Western Union has a P/B Ratio of 3.03. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 1.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

10.02% of the float of Western Union has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Western Union has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 4.4.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Western Union has recently increased by 15.10%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 3.3 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Leadership

Western Union is a leading dividend payer. It pays a dividend yield of 11.03%, putting its dividend yield in the top 25% of dividend-paying stocks.

Dividend Growth

Western Union does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Western Union is 35.07%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Western Union will have a dividend payout ratio of 49.21% next year. This indicates that Western Union will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• Environmental Score: -0.34

Percentage of Shares Shorted

10.02% of the float of Western Union has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Western Union has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 4.4.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Western Union has recently increased by 15.10%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.49

News Sentiment

Western Union has a news sentiment score of 0.49. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.64 average news sentiment score of Business Services companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 13 news articles for Western Union this week, compared to 9 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

30 people have searched for WU on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 7% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

Only 4 people have added Western Union to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -33% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Western Union insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 1.58% of the stock of Western Union is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

91.81% of the stock of Western Union is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

WU Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have WU shares performed this year?

Western Union's stock was trading at $10.60 on January 1st, 2025. Since then, WU shares have decreased by 18.0% and is now trading at $8.69.

How were Western Union's earnings last quarter?

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April, 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.01. The business's revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis.
Read the conference call transcript.

Is Western Union doing a stock buyback?

Western Union's board authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, December 13th 2024, which permits the company to repurchase $1,000,000,000 in outstanding shares, according to EventVestor. This means that the company could buy up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Does Western Union have any subsidiaries?

Western Union subsidiaries include these companies: Coins, Opus Software Technologies Private Limited, Travelex, Custom House, Speedpay, Banco Western Union do Brasil S.A., Custom House Currency Exchange (Australia) Pty. Limited, and others.

Who are Western Union's major shareholders?

Top institutional shareholders of Western Union include Range Financial Group LLC (0.05%). Insiders that own company stock include Jeffrey A Joerres and Timothy P Murphy.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Western Union?

Shares of WU stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of Western Union own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Western Union investors own include Meta Platforms (META), Verizon Communications (VZ), NVIDIA (NVDA), Intel (INTC), AT&T (T), Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX).

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 4/23/2025
• Record date for 6/30 Dividend: 6/16/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 6/30 Dividend: 6/16/2025
• Dividend Payable: 6/30/2025
• Today: 7/08/2025
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 7/29/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Business Services
• Industry: Financial Transaction Services
• Sub-Industry: Data Processing & Outsourced Services
• Current Symbol: NYSE:WU
• CIK: 1365135
• Web: www.westernunion.com
• Phone: (866) 405-5012
• Fax: 302-636-5454
• Employees: 9,100
• Year Founded: 1851

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Western Union: $10.78
• High Price Target: $13.00
• Low Price Target: $7.50
• Potential Upside/Downside: +24.0%
• Consensus Rating: Reduce
• Rating Score (0-4): 1.64
• Research Coverage: 11 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $2.68
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 3.24
• Forward P/E Ratio: 4.85
• P/E Growth: 1.4
• Net Income: $934.20 million
• Net Margins: 22.08%
• Pretax Margin: 14.38%
• Return on Equity: 77.19%
• Return on Assets: 7.16%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 2.97
• Current Ratio: 1.15
• Quick Ratio: 1.15

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $4.21 billion
• Price / Sales: 0.68
• Cash Flow: $2.34 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 3.72
• Book Value: $2.87 per share
• Price / Book: 3.03

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 330,520,000
• Free Float: 325,303,000
• Market Cap: $2.87 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.65