Pure Financial Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Union Pacific Corporation $UNP

Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,867 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $660,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of UNP. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Union Pacific during the first quarter worth approximately $988,822,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 29.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,699,109 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $873,878,000 after acquiring an additional 850,025 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 61,054.6% during the first quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 625,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $147,650,000 after acquiring an additional 623,978 shares in the last quarter. Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Union Pacific during the first quarter worth approximately $115,096,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 10.8% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,626,200 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,092,893,000 after acquiring an additional 452,788 shares in the last quarter. 80.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Union Pacific Stock Performance

NYSE:UNP opened at $236.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $140.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $223.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $224.59. Union Pacific Corporation has a twelve month low of $204.66 and a twelve month high of $256.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The railroad operator reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.09 billion. Union Pacific had a net margin of 28.43% and a return on equity of 41.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Union Pacific Corporation will post 11.99 EPS for the current year.

Union Pacific Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were given a dividend of $1.38 per share. This is an increase from Union Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. Union Pacific’s payout ratio is 47.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on UNP. Citigroup raised shares of Union Pacific from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $250.00 to $251.00 in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Barclays cut shares of Union Pacific from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $271.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group set a $253.00 target price on shares of Union Pacific and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $260.54.

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.