Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. Takes $1.29 Million Position in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP)

Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,229 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,289,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Union Pacific by 1.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,312,154 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,880,701,000 after acquiring an additional 106,996 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Union Pacific by 2.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,285,585 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,549,271,000 after acquiring an additional 143,896 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Union Pacific by 2.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,970,669 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,350,924,000 after acquiring an additional 124,571 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Union Pacific by 0.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,020,107 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,237,356,000 after acquiring an additional 31,899 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Union Pacific by 8.3% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,218,730 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $954,530,000 after buying an additional 322,129 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on UNP. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Union Pacific from $277.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI lowered Union Pacific from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $254.00 to $247.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Union Pacific from $255.00 to $252.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $266.00 price objective on shares of Union Pacific in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Union Pacific from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $259.80.

Union Pacific Price Performance

NYSE UNP opened at $244.66 on Monday. Union Pacific Co. has a one year low of $218.55 and a one year high of $258.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $240.12 and a 200 day moving average of $238.45. The company has a market capitalization of $148.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.47, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.78 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $6.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. Union Pacific had a return on equity of 41.79% and a net margin of 27.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.51 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Union Pacific Co. will post 10.94 EPS for the current year.

Union Pacific Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $1.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. Union Pacific’s payout ratio is 49.22%.

Union Pacific 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.