Sifting through countless of stocks in the Financial Services industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Shift4 Payments, Inc. or The Western Union Company because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Shift4 Payments, Inc. and The Western Union Company compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Shift4 Payments, Inc. and The Western Union Company

Shift4 Payments, Inc. engages in the provision of software and payment processing solutions in the United States and internationally. The company offers a payments platform, which provides omnichannel card acceptance; and processing solutions across multiple payment types, including credit, debit, contactless card, Europay, MasterCard and Visa, QR Pay, and mobile wallets, as well as alternative payment methods, such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, Alipay, and WeChat Pay. It also provides technology solutions, such as SkyTab POS, which provides purpose-built POS workstations; SkyTab Mobile, which provides pay-at-the-table, order-at-the-table, delivery, customer feedback, and email marketing solutions; SkyTab Venue, which provides mobile ordering, countertop POS, self-service kiosk, and digital wallet solutions; Lighthouse, a cloud-based suite of business intelligence tools that includes customer engagement, social media management, online reputation management, scheduling and product pricing, extensive reporting, and analytics; The Giving Block, a cryptocurrency donation marketplace; Shift4Shop, an e-commerce platform that creates a web store and tools to manage product catalog, order fulfillment and inventory management, search engine optimization, and secure hosting; and Marketplace, which enables integrations into third-party applications, as well as loyalty and inventory management. In addition, the company offers merchant operations and support services, including underwriting, onboarding, and activation; training; risk management; and support services. Further, it provides software partner operations and support services, including software integrations and compliance management; partner support; and partner services. The company distributes its products through independent software vendors, internal sales and support networks, enterprises, and value-added resellers. Shift4 Payments, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Center Valley, Pennsylvania.

The Western Union Company provides money movement payments, and digital financial services in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Consumer Money Transfer and Consumer Services. The Consumer Money Transfer segment facilitates money transfers for international cross-border and intra-country transfers, primarily through a network of retail agents and owned locations, as well as through websites and mobile devices. The Consumer Services segments offers bill payment services, money order and media network services, travel money services, check acceptance services, prepaid cards, lending partnerships, and digital wallets. The company was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

Latest Financial Services and Shift4 Payments, Inc., The Western Union Company Stock News

As of September 1, 2026, Shift4 Payments, Inc. had a $3.2 billion market capitalization, compared to the Financial Services median of $2.3 million. Shift4 Payments, Inc.’s stock is down 29.8% in 2026, down 4.4% in the previous five trading days and down 54.57% in the past year.

Currently, Shift4 Payments, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 65.8. Shift4 Payments, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $4.8 billion with a 2.2% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 34.1%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $5.217 per share for the current fiscal year. Shift4 Payments, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

As of September 1, 2026, The Western Union Company had a $2.2 billion market cap, putting it in the 55th percentile of all stocks. The Western Union Company’s stock is down 21.6% in 2026, up 0.6% in the previous five trading days and down 18.57% in the past year.

Currently, The Western Union Company’s price-earnings ratio is 5.7. The Western Union Company’s trailing 12-month revenue is $4.0 billion with a 9.8% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was -1.3%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $1.293 per share for the current fiscal year. The Western Union Company currently has a 13.3% dividend yield.

How We Compare Shift4 Payments, Inc. and The Western Union Company Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Shift4 Payments, Inc. and The Western Union Company’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Shift4 Payments, Inc. and The Western Union Company Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
Shift4 Payments, Inc.	FOUR	D
The Western Union Company	WU	A

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Shift4 Payments, Inc. has a Value Score of 36, which is Expensive. The Western Union Company has a Value Score of 96, which is Deep Value.

The Value Stock Winner: The Western Union Company

As you can clearly see from the Value Grade breakdown above, The Western Union Company is considered to have better value than Shift4 Payments, Inc.. For investors who focus solely on a company’s valuation, The Western Union Company could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Shift4 Payments, Inc. and The Western Union Company’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
Shift4 Payments, Inc.	FOUR	C
The Western Union Company	WU	C

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Shift4 Payments, Inc. has a Quality Score of 44, which is Average. The Western Union Company has a Quality Score of 51, which is Average.

The Quality Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Shift4 Payments, Inc. or The Western Union Company has a high enough Quality Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Shift4 Payments, Inc. or The Western Union Company is the better investment when it comes to quality.

Shift4 Payments, Inc. and The Western Union Company’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
Shift4 Payments, Inc.	FOUR	D
The Western Union Company	WU	F

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Shift4 Payments, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 30, which is Negative. The Western Union Company has a Earnings Estimate Score of 13, which is Very Negative.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Shift4 Payments, Inc. or The Western Union Company has an Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade that could be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Shift4 Payments, Inc. or The Western Union Company is the better investment when it comes to estimate revisions.

Other Shift4 Payments, Inc. and The Western Union Company Grades

In addition to Value, Quality and Estimate Revisions, A+ Investor also provides grades for Growth and Momentum.

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Shift4 Payments, Inc. and The Western Union Company pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Shift4 Payments, Inc. or The Western Union Company Stock?

Overall, Shift4 Payments, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 36, Estimate Revisions Score of 30 and Quality Score of 44.

The Western Union Company stock has a Value Score of 96, Estimate Revisions Score of 13 and Quality Score of 51.

Comparing Shift4 Payments, Inc. and The Western Union Company’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.