Western Union trades at an extremely low forward price-to-earnings of 3.9x with a return on equity of 48%, but is in confirmed free-fall with RSI at 24 and a death cross pattern, 19% short interest, consecutive earnings misses, and a debt-to-equity ratio generating a 1.5-point leverage penalty — making this a structurally distressed value situation with high execution risk.
Thesis pillars
- Deep Value Vs Declining Business→Stable
- Confirmed Price Downtrend→Stable
- High Short Interest Leverage Risk→Stable
- +1 more pillar — see the Why tab for full reasoning
Western Union Company (The) (WU) Stock Analysis
Recovery setup
Financial Services · Credit Services
Sell if holding. Analyst target reached at $8.01 — A.R:R is negative (-0.1) — price has exceeded the analyst target. Reward from here is too thin for a buy — the engine flags exit. Additional concerns: Leverage penalty (D/E 2.9): -1.5.
Western Union provides cross-border money movement and payment services globally through two segments: Consumer Money Transfer (87% of 2025 revenue) and Consumer Services (13%). Revenue comes from transaction fees and foreign exchange spreads charged to consumers, processed... Read more
Sell if holding. Analyst target reached at $8.01 — A.R:R is negative (-0.1) — price has exceeded the analyst target. Reward from here is too thin for a buy — the engine flags exit. Additional concerns: Leverage penalty (D/E 2.9): -1.5. Chart setup: Death cross but MACD improving, RSI 81. Score 4.7/10, high confidence.
Passes 7/9 gates (positive momentum, clean insider activity, no SEC red flags, news events none recent, earnings proximity 25d clear, semi cycle peak clear, materials cycle peak clear). Fails on favorable risk/reward ratio. Suitability: aggressive.
About Western Union Company (The)
About Western Union Company (The)
Western Union's Consumer Money Transfer segment generated 87% of total consolidated revenues in 2025, operating across more than 200 countries and territories through approximately 360,000 active agent locations as of December 31, 2025. Consumer Services — bill payment, money orders, and travel money — contributed 13%. The company operates under the Bank Secrecy Act and equivalent anti-money laundering regimes in jurisdictions worldwide.
Western Union earns revenue through per-transaction fees and foreign exchange spreads between wholesale rates and consumer-facing prices, with amounts varying by channel, corridor, and funding method. Agents on both the send and receive sides receive commissions; in digital transactions, the company bears chargeback risk and pays card processors in addition to receive-side commissions. The top 40 agents and partners — each in the network for more than 20 years on average — generated approximately 50% of Consumer Money Transfer revenue in 2025, though no individual agent exceeded 10% of segment revenue. In August 2025, the company signed an agreement to acquire Intermex, focused on U.S.-to-Latin America corridors, for approximately $500 million, subject to regulatory approvals expected in the second quarter of 2026. Western Union also announced a 'Beyond' strategy in November 2025, encompassing digital wallets, consumer financial services, and a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin called USDPT, which the company plans to issue on the Solana blockchain by Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A. in the first half of 2026.
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Western Union's regulatory compliance structure reflects the cost of operating across more than 200 countries. The company is subject to OFAC economic sanctions, providing limited transfer services to authorized parties in regions of Ukraine and other sanctioned corridors only under specific OFAC licenses or advisory opinions. Consent orders and settlement agreements impose additional compliance obligations on agent monitoring and anti-money laundering programs, with the 10-K noting these changes 'have had, and may continue to have, adverse effects' on the business. A considerable portion of revenue is denominated in euros, exposing translated U.S. dollar results to currency moves that hedging only partially offsets.
See also: Financial Services · Credit Services
From Western Union Company (The)'s most recent 10-K filing, extracted June 16, 2026.
Recent developments
updated 2026-07-06Recent Developments — Western Union Company (The)
Latest news
- NEWS Western Union Announces $0.125 Quarterly Dividend - Yahoo — Yahoo positive
- NEWS The Wu Administration Announces Affordable Housing Funding For Rental Projects Citywide - Boston.gov — Boston.gov neutral
- NEWS Western Union (WU) Expected to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Wednesday - MarketBeat — MarketBeat neutral
- NEWS Western Union Expands in Argentina: Company Signs Money Transfer and Bill Payment Agreement with Car - Yahoo — Yahoo positive
- NEWS Former ambulance service owner shares experience with WU Council - Community Newspaper Group — Community Newspaper Group neutral
Generated 2026-07-06T06:30:28Z.
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Model-generated analysis — not investment advice. Not a registered investment advisor. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
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Rating Breakdown
3 floor-breakers
Revenue shrinking — -0.1% YoY. Growth thesis broken unless recovery story develops.static
Technicals below the gate floor. Component breakdown shows what dragged the score down.static
No near-term catalyst priced in. Thesis progression will come from fundamentals grinding, not event reaction.static
Price Targets
Position Sizing
Risk Alerts
Earnings
Verdict History
Frequently Asked Questions
Sell if holding. Analyst target reached at $8.01 — A.R:R is negative (-0.1) — price has exceeded the analyst target. Reward from here is too thin for a buy — the engine flags exit. Additional concerns: Leverage penalty (D/E 2.9): -1.5. Chart setup: Death cross but MACD improving, RSI 81. Prior stop was $7.59. Score 4.7/10, high confidence.
Take-profit target: $7.86 (-1.9% upside). Prior stop was $7.59. Stop-loss: $7.59.
Analyst target reached - limited upside remaining; Leverage penalty (D/E 2.9): -1.5; Consecutive earnings misses (2).
Western Union Company (The) trades at a P/E of 5.9 (forward 4.2). TrendMatrix value score: 7.5/10. Verdict: Sell.
26 analysts cover WU with a consensus score of 2.3/5. Average price target: $9.
What does Western Union Company (The) do?Western Union provides cross-border money movement and payment services globally through two segments: Consumer Money...
Western Union provides cross-border money movement and payment services globally through two segments: Consumer Money Transfer (87% of 2025 revenue) and Consumer Services (13%). Revenue comes from transaction fees and foreign exchange spreads charged to consumers, processed through approximately 360,000 active agent locations in over 200 countries and territories as of December 31, 2025.