Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) Announces Earnings Results

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) released its earnings results on Thursday. The railroad operator reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.15, RTT News reports. Union Pacific had a net margin of 27.33% and a return on equity of 41.79%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.71 earnings per share.

Union Pacific Stock Up 0.4 %

UNP opened at $248.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $150.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.86, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $234.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $239.40. Union Pacific has a 52 week low of $218.55 and a 52 week high of $258.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79.

Union Pacific Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $1.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Union Pacific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on UNP shares. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $266.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Union Pacific from $288.00 to $283.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com cut Union Pacific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $277.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Union Pacific from $253.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.57.

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.