Union Pacific (UNP) closed at $240.64 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.84% move from the prior day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500’s 1.14% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 1.23%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.36%.
– Zacks Heading into today, shares of the railroad had gained 0.57% over the past month, outpacing the Transportation sector’s loss of 4.31% and the S&P 500’s loss of 1.37% in that time.
Union Pacific will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 20, 2022. On that day, Union Pacific is projected to report earnings of $2.66 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 12.71%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $5.65 billion, up 9.85% from the prior-year quarter.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $9.97 per share and revenue of $21.7 billion, which would represent changes of +21.73% and +11.09%, respectively, from the prior year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Union Pacific should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company’s business and profitability.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.27% lower within the past month. Union Pacific is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, Union Pacific is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 24.35. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry’s average Forward P/E of 23.59.
We can also see that UNP currently has a PEG ratio of 2.43. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company’s expected earnings growth rate into account. The Transportation – Rail industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.18 as of yesterday’s close.
The Transportation – Rail industry is part of the Transportation sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 196, putting it in the bottom 23% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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