Western Union Co key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, Western Union Co had return on equity of 51.9%, an operating margin of 18.7% and debt equal to 301.2% of equity. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Western Union Co: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year	2009Dec 2009	2010Dec 2010	2011Dec 2011	2012Dec 2012	2013Dec 2013	2014Dec 2014	2015Dec 2015	2016Dec 2016	2017Dec 2017	2018Dec 2018	2019Dec 2019	2020Dec 2020	2021Dec 2021	2022Dec 2022	2023Dec 2023	2024Dec 2024	2025Dec 2025	LTMJun 2026
Gross margin	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	39.8%	39.3%	41.0%	41.7%	41.5%	42.9%	41.3%	38.7%	37.8%	37.0%	35.1%
Operating margin	25.2%	25.0%	25.2%	23.5%	20.0%	20.3%	20.2%	9.0%	8.6%	20.1%	17.6%	20.0%	22.1%	19.8%	18.8%	17.2%	18.7%	15.9%
Net margin	16.7%	17.5%	21.2%	18.1%	14.4%	15.2%	15.3%	4.7%	−10.1%	15.2%	20.0%	15.4%	15.9%	20.3%	14.4%	22.2%	12.3%	9.8%
Free-cash-flow margin	22.8%	18.1%	20.4%	19.8%	18.2%	17.4%	17.8%	17.9%	12.2%	12.2%	16.4%	17.4%	19.9%	12.3%	17.4%	8.8%	12.5%	14.0%
Return on equity	—	194.4%	157.8%	111.8%	78.1%	70.9%	61.9%	21.9%	—	—	—	—	—	—	130.9%	129.0%	51.9%	42.2%
Return on assets	11.5%	11.9%	13.7%	11.1%	8.2%	8.5%	8.7%	2.7%	−6.0%	9.3%	11.9%	8.2%	8.8%	10.5%	7.5%	11.3%	6.0%	4.9%
Asset turnover	0.69	0.68	0.65	0.61	0.57	0.56	0.57	0.57	0.59	0.61	0.60	0.53	0.55	0.52	0.52	0.51	0.49	0.50
Debt to equity	862.4%	564.6%	400.4%	428.4%	381.4%	286.1%	228.9%	308.8%	—	—	—	>999%	846.0%	547.7%	522.9%	304.5%	301.2%	294.9%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)	8.1x	7.7x	7.6x	7.4x	5.7x	6.5x	6.6x	3.2x	3.3x	7.5x	6.1x	8.2x	10.6x	8.8x	7.8x	6.1x	5.3x	4.3x
Effective tax rate	25.0%	20.5%	8.6%	12.2%	13.9%	12.0%	11.0%	25.9%	—	14.1%	19.9%	13.0%	13.9%	9.7%	16.1%	—	20.2%	21.6%
SG&A as % of revenue	18.2%	17.6%	18.3%	20.1%	21.6%	20.9%	21.4%	30.8%	22.3%	20.9%	24.0%	21.5%	20.7%	21.5%	19.9%	20.5%	18.3%	19.2%
Capital spending as % of revenue	1.2%	1.0%	1.0%	1.1%	1.4%	1.2%	1.7%	1.3%	1.3%	2.4%	0.9%	0.8%	0.7%	0.7%	0.5%	0.9%	1.0%	1.1%
Free cash flow ÷ net income	136.5%	103.4%	96.3%	109.6%	126.3%	114.7%	116.6%	384.3%	—	80.4%	81.9%	113.0%	125.0%	60.4%	121.4%	39.5%	101.1%	143.0%
Dividends ÷ net income	4.9%	18.2%	16.7%	24.8%	34.7%	31.1%	37.8%	123.3%	—	40.1%	32.2%	49.8%	47.4%	40.0%	55.8%	34.4%	61.8%	76.6%
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow	38.1%	79.3%	88.9%	90.8%	67.1%	77.8%	84.8%	83.6%	123.1%	110.2%	103.1%	72.5%	78.6%	133.5%	86.5%	137.6%	107.6%	78.7%

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal quarters.

Western Union Co: financial ratios, quarterly
Quarter	2024 Q3Sept 2024	2024 Q4Dec 2024	2025 Q1Mar 2025	2025 Q2Jun 2025	2025 Q3Sept 2025	2025 Q4Dec 2025	2026 Q1Mar 2026	2026 Q2Jun 2026
Gross margin	36.9%	37.5%	37.0%	37.4%	37.7%	36.0%	33.4%	33.2%
Operating margin	15.9%	16.8%	18.0%	18.8%	19.6%	18.4%	12.5%	13.0%
Net margin	25.6%	36.4%	12.6%	11.9%	13.5%	11.3%	6.6%	7.6%
Free-cash-flow margin	19.8%	11.3%	14.7%	−0.8%	24.5%	11.5%	10.4%	9.3%
Debt to equity	329.4%	304.5%	260.8%	283.2%	270.1%	301.2%	256.4%	274.4%
SG&A as % of revenue	21.0%	20.6%	19.0%	18.6%	18.2%	17.6%	20.8%	20.2%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

2 of 5 checks passed · June 30, 2026

Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities The company doesn't report a short-term split. Not assessable.
Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities Not assessable from the reported split. Not assessable.
More cash than debt $920m of cash against $2.5bn of debt.
Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 274% of equity.
Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 773% to 274% over five years.
A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $610m of operating cash flow against $2.5bn of debt.
Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $642m against $149m of interest.

From Western Union Co's latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

69 /100

Moderate moat

How hard Western Union's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

Returns on capital 12 / 20

Net income has been a median 8.1% of total assets over 10 years.
Pricing power 14 / 20

Gross margin has been a median 40.5%, moving by 2.6 percentage points (standard deviation) across 8 years.
Durability 11 / 20

Operating margin has been a median 17.8%; its worst year was 7.7%.
Cash conversion 17 / 20

Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 14.5% of revenue.
Discipline 20 / 20

The diluted share count fell 23.1% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.9% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Medium. In this industry, AI could change how the product is made or sold, without replacing the core asset. The score above includes a 5-point deduction for that exposure (74 before it).

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

Compare with peers

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Figures from Western Union Co's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 20, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Western Union Co.