Quarry LP Boosts Stock Position in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP)

Quarry LP lifted its stake in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) by 996.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,818 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 2,561 shares during the quarter. Quarry LP’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 1.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,312,154 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,880,701,000 after buying an additional 106,996 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 2.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,285,585 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,549,271,000 after buying an additional 143,896 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 2.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,970,669 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,350,924,000 after buying an additional 124,571 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 0.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,020,107 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,237,356,000 after buying an additional 31,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 8.3% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,218,730 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $954,530,000 after buying an additional 322,129 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on UNP. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Union Pacific from $277.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Union Pacific from $288.00 to $283.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Union Pacific from $273.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays increased their price target on Union Pacific from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded Union Pacific from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $254.00 to $247.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Union Pacific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $259.80.

Union Pacific Price Performance

NYSE:UNP opened at $235.00 on Thursday. Union Pacific Co. has a one year low of $218.55 and a one year high of $258.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $142.47 billion, a PE ratio of 21.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $239.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $238.34.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.78 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $6.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. Union Pacific had a return on equity of 41.79% and a net margin of 27.33%. The company’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Union Pacific Co. will post 10.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Union Pacific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $1.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. Union Pacific’s payout ratio is 49.22%.

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.