Trying to make sense of Western Union’s stock lately? If you have been watching the ticker, you have seen a wild ride over the past year, with the share price closing most recently at $8.07. While the company posted an almost flat 0.1% return in the last week, its 30-day drop of 6.6% and a year-to-date slide of 22.7% probably catch the eye of any investor who prefers value over hype. Looking further back, it is hard to ignore the 48.2% decline over the past five years. Does this reflect a shift in sentiment, or has the broader market been too quick to write off Western Union’s core business in a changing payments landscape?

That is where things get interesting for those of us who look deeper than the headlines. On the surface, the…