Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) Shares Bought by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) by 3.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,685 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 743 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $5,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Union Pacific by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $737,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Union Pacific by 3.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC raised its position in Union Pacific by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC now owns 2,393 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP raised its position in Union Pacific by 0.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Berkeley Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Union Pacific by 1.0% during 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 in the last quarter. 80.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on UNP. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $237.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $252.00 to $258.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Loop Capital downgraded Union Pacific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $276.00 to $238.00 in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Union Pacific from $248.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $258.63.

Union Pacific Stock Performance

UNP stock traded up $1.50 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $230.22. The stock had a trading volume of 1,856,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,268,420. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.06. Union Pacific Co. has a 52 week low of $199.33 and a 52 week high of $258.66. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $231.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $239.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The railroad operator reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 44.34% and a net margin of 26.52%. Union Pacific’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.67 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Union Pacific Co. will post 11.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Union Pacific Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Union Pacific’s payout ratio is presently 49.62%.

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.