Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Has $716,000 Stock Position in Union Pacific Corporation $UNP

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,113 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 91 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of UNP. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Union Pacific by 7.4% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 25,207 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $5,955,000 after acquiring an additional 1,732 shares during the last quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Union Pacific by 17.7% during the first quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,210 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,837 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its position in Union Pacific by 68.1% during the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 11,148 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,634,000 after acquiring an additional 4,518 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in Union Pacific by 4.2% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 1,865 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bremer Bank National Association lifted its position in Union Pacific by 9.7% during the first quarter. Bremer Bank National Association now owns 18,731 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $4,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,649 shares during the last quarter. 80.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNP has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $238.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Baird R W raised shares of Union Pacific to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $244.00 to $238.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $257.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Union Pacific from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold 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 $260.00.

Union Pacific Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNP opened at $236.40 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $223.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $224.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Union Pacific Corporation has a 1 year low of $204.66 and a 1 year high of $256.84.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The railroad operator reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.09 billion. Union Pacific had a net margin of 28.43% and a return on equity of 41.73%. The company’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Union Pacific Corporation will post 11.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Union Pacific Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This is a boost from Union Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Union Pacific’s payout ratio is presently 47.96%.

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.