Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Grows Stock Holdings in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) by 17.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,522 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $1,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of UNP. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Union Pacific in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Union Pacific in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Union Pacific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Union Pacific by 48.6% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 309 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Union Pacific in the third quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Elizabeth F. Whited sold 3,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $937,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 56,682 shares in the company, valued at $14,170,500. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Union Pacific Trading Down 2.2 %

UNP traded down $5.28 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $231.01. 771,021 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,286,104. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11. Union Pacific Co. has a 1 year low of $190.37 and a 1 year high of $258.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $244.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $234.64. The firm has a market cap of $140.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.07.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The railroad operator reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.05 billion. Union Pacific had a net margin of 26.45% and a return on equity of 46.87%. Union Pacific’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.67 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Union Pacific Co. will post 11.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Union Pacific Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Union Pacific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on UNP. StockNews.com lowered shares of Union Pacific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $235.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Union Pacific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $280.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $248.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Union Pacific from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Union Pacific currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.00.

Union Pacific Company Profile

Union Pacific Corporation, through its subsidiary, Union Pacific Railroad Company, operates in the railroad business in the United States. The company offers transportation services for grain and grain products, fertilizers, food and refrigerated products, and coal and renewables to grain processors, animal feeders, ethanol producers, renewable biofuel producers, and other agricultural users; and construction products, industrial chemicals, plastics, forest products, specialized products, metals and ores, petroleum, liquid petroleum gases, soda ash, and sand, as well as finished automobiles, automotive parts, and merchandise in intermodal containers.