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Forensic Analysis · Professional & Commercial Services · as of Nov 9, 2026

Western Union Co (WU)

A forensic read on Western Union Co built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.

B · Sound & dependable
Forensic grade
Clean
Earnings quality
2
Forensic signals
51.9%
ROE
-3.8%
Revenue growth

This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.

Western Union Co earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade. 2 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by shareholder returns.

What the filings flag

129% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns. Returned $544M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 129% of free cash flow. That is $123M (29%) more than free cash flow covered. It came out of the balance sheet's own liquid holdings, not new debt: cash fell $240M over FY2025, while total debt fell $65M. A payout past free cash flow draws the balance sheet down in every year it continues, which isn't sustainable indefinitely. Counting the $47M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 140%.
0.84×
FY2023–FY2025
Cash conversion. Over FY2023–FY2025, cumulative operating cash flow was 0.84× cumulative net income. Cash is lagging reported profit. The shortfall is profit tied up in working capital rather than collected — the accrual and receivables lines below show where.Cash conversion: operating cash flow divided by net income, the share of profit that arrived as cash.

Key fundamentals

Latest Revenue$4.05B
Revenue Growth YoY-3.8%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)-3.6%
Net Margin12.3%
Free Cash Flow$420.2M
Return on Equity51.9%
Debt / Equity3.01x

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Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Nov 9, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.

See a wrong number? Report an error with the filing it should match.