Acropolis Investment Management LLC Has $251,000 Stake in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP)

Acropolis Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) by 120.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,099 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 600 shares during the quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNP. Meridian Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Union Pacific by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,690 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,070,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 6,732 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,535,000 after acquiring an additional 1,743 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Union Pacific by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 34,430 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $7,851,000 after acquiring an additional 7,277 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Union Pacific by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 6,350 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,448,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Union Pacific by 35.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,226,100 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $279,600,000 after acquiring an additional 323,525 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on UNP shares. Evercore ISI downgraded Union Pacific from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $254.00 to $247.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Union Pacific from $273.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Union Pacific from $270.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Union Pacific from $263.00 to $252.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $277.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $259.80.

Union Pacific Stock Performance

Shares of UNP stock opened at $231.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.05 billion, a PE ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $234.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $238.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.63. Union Pacific Co. has a one year low of $218.55 and a one year high of $258.66.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by ($0.03). Union Pacific had a net margin of 27.33% and a return on equity of 41.79%. The firm had revenue of $6.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.51 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Union Pacific Co. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Union Pacific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $1.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Union Pacific’s payout ratio is currently 49.22%.

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.