Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Lowers Stock Holdings in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lowered its holdings in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) by 4.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,821 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 4,108 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $21,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Union Pacific by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $737,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Union Pacific by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,394 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its position in shares of Union Pacific by 0.6% in the first quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 7,037 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,731,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP boosted its position in shares of Union Pacific by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 7,838 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,925,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Berkeley Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Union Pacific by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,100 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Union Pacific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Union Pacific from $198.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Union Pacific from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Loop Capital lowered Union Pacific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $276.00 to $238.00 in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Union Pacific from $248.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Union Pacific presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $258.79.

Union Pacific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNP traded up $1.70 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $242.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,127,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,305,658. Union Pacific Co. has a fifty-two week low of $199.33 and a fifty-two week high of $258.66. The company has a market capitalization of $147.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $229.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $239.00.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $2.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.05 billion. Union Pacific had a return on equity of 42.62% and a net margin of 26.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Union Pacific Co. will post 11.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Union Pacific Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a $1.34 dividend. This is a boost from Union Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Union Pacific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.