Drake & Associates LLC Increases Holdings in Union Pacific Corporation $UNP

Drake & Associates LLC increased its stake in Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,046 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. Drake & Associates LLC’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in UNP. LGT Group Foundation boosted its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 5,398 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,275,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Union Pacific in the first quarter worth $988,822,000. SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Union Pacific by 6.2% during the first quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 13,264 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $3,133,000 after buying an additional 772 shares during the period. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Union Pacific by 10.9% during the first quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,666 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $866,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 16.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,545 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,491,000 after acquiring an additional 1,520 shares during the period. 80.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Union Pacific Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE UNP opened at $237.33 on Tuesday. Union Pacific Corporation has a one year low of $204.66 and a one year high of $256.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $140.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $223.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $224.46.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The railroad operator reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.15 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.74 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Union Pacific Corporation will post 11.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Union Pacific Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 a boost from Union Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Union Pacific’s payout ratio is 47.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Union Pacific in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Union Pacific in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $231.00 target price on the stock. Argus lowered Union Pacific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Union Pacific from $257.00 to $276.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered Union Pacific from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $260.54.

About Union Pacific

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.