Raymond James Reiterates Strong-Buy Rating for Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP)

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP)‘s stock had its “strong-buy” rating restated by equities research analysts at Raymond James in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $280.00 price target on the railroad operator’s stock, up from their previous price target of $275.00. Raymond James’ price objective points to a potential upside of 15.11% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Union Pacific from $260.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Union Pacific from $252.00 to $258.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Union Pacific from $282.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Union Pacific from $231.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Union Pacific from $248.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $258.78.

Union Pacific Stock Down 0.1 %

UNP traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $243.25. 1,152,975 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,318,979. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $244.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $234.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.41 billion, a PE ratio of 23.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.07. Union Pacific has a 1 year low of $190.45 and a 1 year high of $258.66.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The railroad operator reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.97 billion. Union Pacific had a net margin of 26.45% and a return on equity of 46.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.67 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Union Pacific will post 11.01 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Union Pacific news, President Elizabeth F. Whited sold 3,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $937,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 56,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,170,500. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Union Pacific

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Union Pacific by 21,063.6% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,312 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,896,000 after acquiring an additional 9,268 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its stake in Union Pacific by 29.1% in the third quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,879 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the period. TFG Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Union Pacific by 0.3% in the third quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 16,296 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $3,318,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Union Pacific by 3.5% in the third quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,689 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,769,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Union Pacific by 9.0% in the third quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 4,230 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $861,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Union Pacific Company 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.