Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) Announces $1.30 Quarterly Dividend

Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 9th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of 1.30 per share by the railroad operator on Friday, June 28th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%.

Union Pacific has increased its dividend by an average of 10.3% per year over the last three years. Union Pacific has a dividend payout ratio of 40.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Union Pacific to earn $12.43 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 41.8%.

Union Pacific Stock Performance

UNP stock opened at $246.61 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $242.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $236.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.53, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.93. Union Pacific has a 1 year low of $190.71 and a 1 year high of $258.66.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.19. Union Pacific had a net margin of 26.52% and a return on equity of 44.34%. The firm had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.67 EPS. Union Pacific’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Union Pacific will post 11.21 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on UNP shares. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Union Pacific from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Union Pacific from $271.00 to $273.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Union Pacific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $248.00 to $267.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price 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, 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 research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $259.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Elizabeth F. Whited sold 3,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the president now owns 56,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,170,500. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.