Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) Declares $1.34 Quarterly Dividend

Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 6th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of 1.34 per share by the railroad operator on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%.

Union Pacific has raised its dividend payment by an average of 7.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 18 years. Union Pacific has a payout ratio of 40.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Union Pacific to earn $13.05 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 41.1%.

Union Pacific Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of UNP opened at $243.61 on Friday. Union Pacific has a fifty-two week low of $218.55 and a fifty-two week high of $258.66. The company has a market capitalization of $147.69 billion, a PE ratio of 21.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $235.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $240.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.15. Union Pacific had a return on equity of 41.12% and a net margin of 27.82%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Union Pacific will post 12.03 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $285.00 target price (up from $265.00) on shares of Union Pacific in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $288.00 to $283.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays increased their target price on Union Pacific from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Union Pacific from $254.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Benchmark raised their price objective on Union Pacific from $266.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $261.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Craig V. Richardson sold 6,495 shares of Union Pacific stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total value of $1,636,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,632,388. This trade represents a 19.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Elizabeth F. Whited sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $1,875,000.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 64,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,240,000. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.