Palisade Asset Management LLC Has $1.44 Million Stock Position in Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP)

Palisade Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) by 2.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,084 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $1,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Union Pacific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,927,377,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Union Pacific in the 4th quarter valued at $1,035,905,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 27,502.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,491,151 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $588,510,000 after buying an additional 2,482,126 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Union Pacific by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,430,581 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $3,282,305,000 after acquiring an additional 1,616,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,395,364 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,370,559,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298,178 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on UNP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Union Pacific in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Union Pacific from $270.00 to $248.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Argus raised shares of Union Pacific to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup raised Union Pacific from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the company from $260.00 to $244.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.74.

Union Pacific Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE UNP opened at $225.93 on Tuesday. Union Pacific Corporation has a one year low of $204.66 and a one year high of $258.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $134.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $221.34 and its 200-day moving average is $230.83.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.73 by ($0.03). Union Pacific had a return on equity of 40.80% and a net margin of 27.76%. The business had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. Union Pacific’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Union Pacific Corporation will post 11.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Union Pacific Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Union Pacific’s payout ratio is 48.29%.

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.