Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.03 EPS

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The railroad operator reported $2.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.03, Briefing.com reports. Union Pacific had a net margin of 26.90% and a return on equity of 42.62%. The business had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.57 earnings per share. Union Pacific’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Union Pacific Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE UNP opened at $240.36 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $229.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $239.00. The firm has a market cap of $146.65 billion, a PE ratio of 22.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.06. Union Pacific has a 1 year low of $199.33 and a 1 year high of $258.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Union Pacific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a $1.34 dividend. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This is a positive change from Union Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Union Pacific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNP has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Union Pacific from $271.00 to $273.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Union Pacific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $276.00 to $238.00 in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $280.00 price objective (up from $275.00) on shares of Union Pacific in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $267.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Union Pacific currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $258.79.

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.