ValuEngine Upgrades Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) to “Buy”

ValuEngine upgraded shares of Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Friday, July 12th, ValuEngine reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Royal Mail from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Goldman Sachs Group cut EXPERIAN PLC/ADR from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Loop Capital downgraded Union Pacific from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $193.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Barclays reaffirmed a buy rating on shares of 1&1 Drillisch in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $44.00 price target on Schlumberger and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $182.62.

Shares of NYSE:UNP opened at $174.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $122.03 billion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $170.45. Union Pacific has a 1-year low of $128.08 and a 1-year high of $180.02.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The railroad operator reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.62 billion. Union Pacific had a return on equity of 31.74% and a net margin of 26.95%. Union Pacific’s revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Union Pacific will post 8.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a $0.97 dividend. This represents a $3.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. This is a boost from Union Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Union Pacific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.50%.

In other news, Director William J. Delaney III purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $174.06 per share, with a total value of $870,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $870,300. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert M. Knight, Jr. sold 1,380 shares of Union Pacific stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.01, for a total value of $248,413.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,943 shares in the company, valued at $17,090,689.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 9.96% of the company’s stock.

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Union Pacific by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 48,020,051 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $6,637,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,260 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Union Pacific by 29.1% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,222,588 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,712,416,000 after purchasing an additional 3,653,756 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Union Pacific by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,640,019 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,330,401,000 after purchasing an additional 688,775 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Union Pacific by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,284,737 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,145,199,000 after purchasing an additional 270,547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Union Pacific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,036,317,000. 78.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Union Pacific

Union Pacific Corporation, through its subsidiary, Union Pacific Railroad Company, engages in the railroad business in the United States. It offers transportation services for agricultural products, including grains, commodities produced from grains, fertilizers, and food and beverage products; coal and sand, as well as petroleum, liquid petroleum gases, and renewables; and construction products, industrial chemicals, plastics, forest products, specialized products, metals and ores, and soda ash, as well as intermodal and finished vehicles.

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To view ValuEngine’s full report, visit ValuEngine’s official website.

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