New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Raises Holdings in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its position in shares of Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) by 16.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 36,988 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,300 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $10,105,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Silver Oak Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Union Pacific during the fourth quarter worth about $219,000. Allegheny Financial Group LTD grew its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Allegheny Financial Group LTD now owns 10,885 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,674,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated acquired a new position in shares of Union Pacific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $238,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 87,905 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $21,596,000 after purchasing an additional 28,052 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC grew its position in Union Pacific by 48.3% in the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 18,512 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $4,547,000 after buying an additional 6,031 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital lowered shares of Union Pacific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $276.00 to $238.00 in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Union Pacific from $198.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $271.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Union Pacific in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $270.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Union Pacific in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “hold” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $258.92.

Union Pacific Trading Up 1.2 %

Union Pacific stock traded up $2.79 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $226.26. The stock had a trading volume of 3,492,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,420,808. Union Pacific Co. has a twelve month low of $199.33 and a twelve month high of $258.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.05 billion, a PE ratio of 21.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $233.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $240.30.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The railroad operator reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.19. Union Pacific had a return on equity of 44.34% and a net margin of 26.52%. The company had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Union Pacific Co. will post 11.22 EPS for the current year.

Union Pacific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. Union Pacific’s payout ratio is 49.62%.

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.