Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $258.78.

UNP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Union Pacific from $271.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $280.00 price target (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Union Pacific in a report on Friday. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Union Pacific from $260.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Union Pacific from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Union Pacific from $235.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Union Pacific news, President Elizabeth F. Whited sold 3,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $937,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 56,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,170,500. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 16.9% in the first quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 1,997 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. James Hambro & Partners boosted its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 3.7% in the first quarter. James Hambro & Partners now owns 319,598 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $78,565,000 after purchasing an additional 11,387 shares during the period. Phoenix Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 1.4% in the first quarter. Phoenix Wealth Advisors now owns 11,968 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,943,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 0.4% in the first quarter. NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co LLC now owns 13,688 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $3,366,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Conning Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 4.0% in the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 151,396 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $37,162,000 after purchasing an additional 5,885 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Union Pacific Stock Performance

UNP opened at $242.79 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $244.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $235.15. Union Pacific has a 1 year low of $190.45 and a 1 year high of $258.66. The stock has a market cap of $148.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.07.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The railroad operator reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.97 billion. Union Pacific had a net margin of 26.52% and a return on equity of 44.34%. The business’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.67 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Union Pacific will post 11.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Union Pacific Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Union Pacific’s payout ratio is currently 49.62%.

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.