Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 25th, 2026

Bollard Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP – Free Report) by 12.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,079 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,927 shares during the period. Bollard Group LLC’s holdings in Union Pacific were worth $6,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tucker Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Union Pacific during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. SWAN Capital LLC raised its stake in Union Pacific by 2,575.0% in the 4th quarter. SWAN Capital LLC now owns 107 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Rachor Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Union Pacific during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. High Point Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Union Pacific during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Union Pacific during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes Several brokerages have recently issued reports on UNP. Citizens Jmp began coverage on Union Pacific in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Union Pacific in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $317.00 price target on shares of Union Pacific and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $304.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Union Pacific in a report on Monday, July 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.16.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Union Pacific

Insiders Place Their Bets In other Union Pacific news, EVP Eric J. Gehringer sold 2,991 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.96, for a total transaction of $789,504.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,353,447.52. This trade represents a 6.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Union Pacific Here are the key news stories impacting Union Pacific this week:

Positive Sentiment: Union Pacific reported better-than-expected Q2 results, with adjusted EPS of $3.41 and revenue of $6.86 billion, both ahead of Wall Street estimates, reinforcing confidence in operating momentum and pricing power. Positive Sentiment: Analysts turned more constructive after the earnings beat, with Citigroup, JPMorgan, Benchmark, and Bank of America all raising price targets, suggesting expectations for further upside in the stock. Positive Sentiment: Union Pacific and Canadian National reached a binding access agreement tied to the proposed Norfolk Southern merger, easing competition concerns and improving the odds of regulatory approval while also giving UNP better Chicago routing efficiency and expanded corridor access. Article Title Neutral Sentiment: The broader news flow also highlighted that the merger and access agreement may reshape North American rail traffic patterns, but the deal still depends on Surface Transportation Board approval and final closing. Neutral Sentiment: Several articles noted Union Pacific’s record freight revenue and improved efficiency, which supports the bullish case but is already partly reflected in the recent rally. Union Pacific Stock Performance NYSE:UNP opened at $307.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.90, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50-day moving average is $275.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $258.32. Union Pacific Corporation has a 1-year low of $210.84 and a 1-year high of $315.99.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.72 billion. Union Pacific had a net margin of 28.85% and a return on equity of 38.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.03 EPS. Analysts forecast that Union Pacific Corporation will post 12.64 EPS for the current year.

Union Pacific Dividend Announcement The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were given a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. Union Pacific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.47%.

Union Pacific Company Profile (Free Report)

Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP) is one of the largest freight railroad companies in the United States. Its principal operating subsidiary, Union Pacific Railroad, has roots that trace back to the Pacific Railway Act of 1862 and the construction of the first transcontinental rail link completed in 1869. The company is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, and operates as a holding company for rail transportation and related services.

Union Pacific’s core business is the movement of freight by rail across an extensive rail network serving the western two‑thirds of the United States.

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Union Pacific (UNP - Free Report) came out with quarterly earnings of $3.41 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.2 per share. This compares to earnings of $3.03 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.

This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +6.56%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this railroad would post earnings of $2.85 per share when it actually produced earnings of $2.93, delivering a surprise of +2.81%.

Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times.

Union Pacific, which belongs to the Zacks Transportation - Rail industry, posted revenues of $6.86 billion for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.18%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $6.15 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates three times over the last four quarters.

The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call.

Union Pacific shares have added about 26.5% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 9.6%.

What's Next for Union Pacific?While Union Pacific has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock?

There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately.

Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions.

Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Union Pacific was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $3.32 on $6.73 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and $12.62 on $26.04 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year.

Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Transportation - Rail is currently in the bottom 24% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.

Canadian National (CNI - Free Report) , another stock in the same industry, has yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. The results are expected to be released on July 24.

This railroad is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.39 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +3%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 1.7% lower over the last 30 days to the current level.

Canadian National's revenues are expected to be $3.26 billion, up 5.5% from the year-ago quarter.

Earnings are arguably the most important single number on a company's quarterly financial report. Wall Street clearly dives into all of the other metrics and management's input, but the EPS figure helps cut through all the noise.

The earnings figure itself is key, of course, but a beat or miss on the bottom line can sometimes be just as, if not more, important. Therefore, investors should consider paying close attention to these earnings surprises, as a big beat can help a stock climb and vice versa.

Now that we know how important earnings and earnings surprises are, it's time to show investors how to take advantage of these events to boost their returns by utilizing the Zacks Earnings ESP filter.

The Zacks Earnings ESP, ExplainedThe Zacks Earnings ESP, or Expected Surprise Prediction, aims to find earnings surprises by focusing on the most recent analyst revisions. The basic premise is that if an analyst reevaluates their earnings estimate ahead of an earnings release, it means they likely have new information that could possibly be more accurate.

The core of the ESP model is comparing the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate, where the resulting percentage difference between the two equals the Expected Surprise Prediction. The Zacks Rank is also factored into the ESP metric to better help find companies that appear poised to top their next bottom-line consensus estimate, which will hopefully help lift the stock price.

When we join a positive earnings ESP with a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or stronger, stocks posted a positive bottom-line surprise 70% of the time. Plus, this system saw investors produce roughly 28% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest.

Stocks with a #3 (Hold) ranking, which is most stocks covered at 60%, are expected to perform in-line with the broader market. But stocks that fall into the #2 (Buy) and #1 (Strong Buy) ranking, or the top 15% and top 5% of stocks, respectively, should outperform the market. Strong Buy stocks should outperform more than any other rank.

Should You Consider Union Pacific?The last thing we will do today, now that we have a grasp on the ESP and how powerful of a tool it can be, is to quickly look at a qualifying stock. Union Pacific (UNP - Free Report) holds a #3 (Hold) at the moment and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $3.15 a share 30 days away from its upcoming earnings release on July 23, 2026.

By taking the percentage difference between the $3.15 Most Accurate Estimate and the $3.14 Zacks Consensus Estimate, Union Pacific has an Earnings ESP of +0.29%. Investors should also know that UNP is one of a large group of stocks with positive ESPs. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.

Find Stocks to Buy or Sell Before They're ReportedUse the Zacks Earnings ESP Filter to turn up stocks with the highest probability of positively, or negatively, surprising to buy or sell before they're reported for profitable earnings season trading. Check it out here >>