Pecaut & CO. Increases Holdings in Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP)

Pecaut & CO. boosted its stake in Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,988 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the quarter. Pecaut & CO.’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $1,178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allred Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Allred Capital Management LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,904,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. increased its stake in Union Pacific by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 2,823 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its position in shares of Union Pacific by 38.8% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 161 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Union Pacific by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 2,922 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $666,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 2,803 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $662,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNP has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $255.00 to $245.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Union Pacific in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $271.00 target price (up from $267.00) on shares of Union Pacific in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $256.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.13.

Union Pacific Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of UNP stock opened at $227.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $135.79 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.05. Union Pacific Corporation has a 1-year low of $204.66 and a 1-year high of $258.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of $227.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $231.17.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.73 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.11 billion. Union Pacific had a net margin of 27.76% and a return on equity of 40.80%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Union Pacific Corporation will post 11.99 EPS for the current year.

Union Pacific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. This is a boost from Union Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Union Pacific’s payout ratio is presently 48.29%.

Union Pacific 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.