Union Pacific (UNP) closed at $224.73 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.37% move from the prior day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.08%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the railroad had lost 0.26% over the past month. This has lagged the Transportation sector's gain of 3.28% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.41% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from UNP as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, UNP is projected to report earnings of $2.34 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 40.12%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $5.19 billion, up 22.2% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $9.56 per share and revenue of $21.19 billion. These totals would mark changes of +16.73% and +8.49%, respectively, from last year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for UNP. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.64% higher. UNP is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Digging into valuation, UNP currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 23.42. This valuation marks a no noticeable deviation compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 23.42.
It is also worth noting that UNP currently has a PEG ratio of 2.34. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. UNP's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.34 as of yesterday's close.
The Transportation - Rail industry is part of the Transportation sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 219, putting it in the bottom 14% 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.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.