Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC Buys 462 Shares of Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP)

Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,621 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the quarter. Union Pacific comprises 1.5% of Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $4,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $3,282,305,000 after buying an additional 1,616,895 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew 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 buying an additional 1,298,178 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Union Pacific during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,927,377,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,686,387 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,752,804,000 after buying an additional 363,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,962,650 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,587,763,000 after buying an additional 920,414 shares during the last quarter. 80.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on UNP shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Union Pacific from $255.00 to $245.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Union Pacific from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup raised Union Pacific from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $244.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Union Pacific from $266.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Stephens cut their target price on Union Pacific from $275.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.50.

Union Pacific Stock Performance

Shares of UNP opened at $228.35 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Union Pacific Co. has a one year low of $204.66 and a one year high of $258.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $223.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $136.43 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.07.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.73 by ($0.03). Union Pacific had a return on equity of 41.12% and a net margin of 27.82%. The company had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Union Pacific Co. will post 11.99 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $1.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. Union Pacific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.29%.

Union Pacific Profile

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.