Little House Capital LLC Reduces Holdings in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP)

Little House Capital LLC lowered its position in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) by 76.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,875 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 5,968 shares during the quarter. Little House Capital LLC’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Union Pacific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,832,127,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Union Pacific by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,261,449 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,478,649,000 after acquiring an additional 19,145 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,851,767 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,682,931,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285,144 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,867,842 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,441,260,000 after purchasing an additional 125,522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Union Pacific by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,504,181 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,351,937,000 after buying an additional 364,029 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on UNP. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $271.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Union Pacific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Union Pacific from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Union Pacific from $248.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $237.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Union Pacific presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $258.92.

Union Pacific Stock Performance

NYSE:UNP traded down $1.82 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $224.44. 1,074,603 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,305,320. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $233.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $240.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.59, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.07. Union Pacific Co. has a 52-week low of $199.33 and a 52-week high of $258.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

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

Union Pacific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. Union Pacific’s payout ratio is 49.62%.

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.