Arizona State Retirement System Acquires 2,238 Shares of Union Pacific Corporation $UNP

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) by 1.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 164,735 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,238 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $44,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 29,250.5% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 247,700,336 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $67,374,491,000 after buying an additional 246,856,396 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Union Pacific by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,330,080 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $6,090,674,000 after acquiring an additional 1,082,285 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Union Pacific by 92.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 20,136,349 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $4,658,142,000 after acquiring an additional 9,655,306 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Union Pacific by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,360,668 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $3,552,550,000 after acquiring an additional 296,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Union Pacific by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 14,527,563 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $3,951,497,000 after acquiring an additional 64,492 shares in the last quarter. 80.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on UNP. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $315.00) on shares of Union Pacific in a research report on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Union Pacific from $304.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $339.00 price objective (up from $289.00) on shares of Union Pacific in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Union Pacific in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $317.00 target price on shares of Union Pacific and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Union Pacific currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $320.89.

Union Pacific Stock Performance

NYSE:UNP traded down $0.94 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $288.68. The stock had a trading volume of 1,783,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,062,486. Union Pacific Corporation has a twelve month low of $210.84 and a twelve month high of $315.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $171.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $294.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $271.18.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.72 billion. Union Pacific had a return on equity of 38.46% and a net margin of 28.85%.The business’s revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Union Pacific Corporation will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Union Pacific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This is a boost from Union Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. Union Pacific’s payout ratio is presently 45.99%.

Union Pacific Profile

Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP) is one of the largest freight railroad companies in the United States. Its principal operating subsidiary, Union Pacific Railroad, has roots that trace back to the Pacific Railway Act of 1862 and the construction of the first transcontinental rail link completed in 1869. The company is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, and operates as a holding company for rail transportation and related services.

Union Pacific’s core business is the movement of freight by rail across an extensive rail network serving the western two‑thirds of the United States.