Blair William & Co. IL Increases Stake in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP)

Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in shares of Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) by 13.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 600,134 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 73,036 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $135,786,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A acquired a new stake in shares of Union Pacific in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Union Pacific in the first quarter worth $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Union Pacific by 211.4% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 109 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Union Pacific during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Union Pacific during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on UNP. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Union Pacific from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Union Pacific from $259.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Union Pacific from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Union Pacific from $267.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $258.79.

Insider Transactions at Union Pacific

In related news, President Elizabeth F. Whited sold 3,552 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.59, for a total transaction of $875,887.68. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 64,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,014,787.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Union Pacific Trading Up 0.4 %

UNP stock opened at $253.55 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $154.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.19, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $244.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $239.08. Union Pacific Co. has a 52 week low of $199.33 and a 52 week high of $258.66.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $2.74 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $6.05 billion. Union Pacific had a return on equity of 42.62% and a net margin of 26.90%. The company’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.57 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Union Pacific Co. will post 11.11 EPS for the current year.

Union Pacific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.34 per share. This is an increase from Union Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Union Pacific’s payout ratio is currently 51.15%.

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.