Union Pacific Co. (UNP) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.34 on December 30th

Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 27th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of 1.34 per share by the railroad operator on Monday, December 30th. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%.

Union Pacific has raised its dividend by an average of 10.3% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 18 years. Union Pacific has a payout ratio of 44.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Union Pacific to earn $12.08 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 44.4%.

Union Pacific Stock Performance

NYSE:UNP opened at $245.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $240.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $238.56. The stock has a market cap of $148.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.52, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.06. Union Pacific has a 1-year low of $218.55 and a 1-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 the consensus estimate of $2.78 by ($0.03). Union Pacific had a return on equity of 41.79% and a net margin of 27.33%. The company had revenue of $6.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.51 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Union Pacific will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on UNP shares. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Union Pacific from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $255.00 to $252.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Union Pacific from $273.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $259.80.

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.