William Blair Has Negative View of Western Union Q1 Earnings

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) – Investment analysts at William Blair decreased their Q1 2026 earnings estimates for shares of Western Union in a report issued on Monday, August 11th. William Blair analyst C. Kennedy now forecasts that the credit services provider will earn $0.36 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.42. The consensus estimate for Western Union’s current full-year earnings is $1.79 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Western Union’s Q2 2026 earnings at $0.37 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.36 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.38 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $1.78 EPS.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

WU has been the subject of a number of other reports. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Western Union from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Western Union from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Western Union from $10.50 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Union presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.61.

Western Union Price Performance

NYSE WU opened at $8.49 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.61. Western Union has a 52-week low of $7.89 and a 52-week high of $12.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.22, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.61.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Western Union by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,983,265 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $307,224,000 after acquiring an additional 4,426,126 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Western Union by 0.4% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,275,287 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $111,778,000 after acquiring an additional 58,070 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in Western Union by 48.5% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 13,240,037 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $111,481,000 after acquiring an additional 4,321,604 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Western Union by 16.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,041,493 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $136,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Discerene Group LP raised its stake in Western Union by 55.1% during the second quarter. Discerene Group LP now owns 10,366,558 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $87,286,000 after acquiring an additional 3,684,366 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

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.