Hot Transportation Companies For 2015

Hot Transportation Compan ies For 2015: Union Pacific Corporation(UNP)

Union Pacific Corporation, through its subsidiary, Union Pacific Railroad Company, provides rail transportation services in North America. It has approximately 31,953 route miles linking Pacific Coast and Gulf Coast ports with the Midwest and eastern United States gateways, and provides several corridors to Mexican gateways. The company offers freight transportation services for agricultural products, including whole grains and related commodities, food, beverage products, corn for ethanol products and its by-products, animal feeds, fruits and vegetables, frozen meat, and poultry products; and automotive products, such as imported and finished vehicles, and automotive parts and materials. It also provides transportation services for chemicals, such as industrial chemicals, plastics, and liquid petroleum products; energy products comprising coal and coke; industrial products, including lumber products, paper and consumer goods, furniture and appliances, and nonferrous and i ndustrial minerals, as well as steel and construction products, such as rock, cement, and roofing materials; and intermodal containers. Union Pacific Corporation was founded in 1862 and is based in Omaha, Nebraska.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chad Fraser]

  The winter of 2013/2014 was one most transportation companies—including railroads—would probably like to forget.
  
  As the so-called polar vortex lashed the Midwest, Northeast and much of Canada, many railways were forced to shorten their train lengths and their crews' exposure to the frigid temperatures. The weather also delayed numerous shipments, which weighed on some railways' first quarter profits.
  
  CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX), for example, cited the brutal winter as the main reason why its first quarter earnings fell 13.9% from a year earlier. The company said the wea! ther cost it $0.08 to $0.09 a share in higher expenses and lost revenue.
  
  Polar Vortex Couldn't Keep Union Pacific Down
  
  One railway that managed to prosper despite the wild winter was Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP), a recommendation of our Personal Finance newsletter.
  
  Union Pacific's roots go all the way back to the Civil War, when President Lincoln approved the Pacific Rai lroad Act of 1862 to encourage expansion in non-Confederate territories. Since then, it has grown through mergers and acquisitions, including the Southern Pacific, Missouri Pacific and Western Pacific railroads.
  
  Today, the company operates a 32,000-mile freight network in the western two-thirds of the country, where it spans 23 states.
  
  Union Pacific's revenue is well-diversified across six different categories of freight: intermodal, or containers that can be loaded onto ships, trucks or trains (20% of 2013 revenue); coal (19%); industrial products (18%); agricultural (16%); chemicals, including oil from U.S. shale plays like the Bakken, Permian and Eagle Ford (17%); and automotive (10%).
  
  Despite the wintry blast—and an earlier caution from the company that the severe winter would affect its profits—its first quarter net income rose 13.7% from a year earlier, to $1.09 billion. Per-share earnings gained 17.2%, to $2.38, on a lower share count due to Union Pacific's on

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) is estimated to report its Q1 earnings at $2.37 per share on revenue of $5.70 billion.

  Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) is expected to report its Q1 earnings at $1.20 per share on revenue of $11.49 billion.

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Another area that is intriguing to us is the North American energy sector which looks to have a number of interesting catalysts currently. While the energy sector is at present only a modest overweight in the portfolios, we have been encouraged by several trends taking place for a number of years. These positive! developm! ents are also having an impact that goes far beyond the energy sector itself. Many believe that the U.S. will become energy independent and possibly a net exporter of natural gas and oil (currently restricted by law) in the next decade. This opinion is based primarily on the development of new drilling techniques (i.e. horizontal drilling, and high pressure fracking) that have enabled companies to access oil and natural gas reserves in shale formations that were previously not economically viable. The ability to tap into this acreage is a game-changer in our view and is already having a tremendous impact on the economy. Employment rates in these mostly rura l areas surrounding the shale basins are very high and companies thus find hiring extremely competitive. Strong labor markets tend to create strong local economies. Oil States International (OIS) has been able to capitalize on this trend by providing housing and other services to oil service workers that are in demand in the area. CST Brands (CST) operates gas stations in Texas, but it is increasingly looking to broaden its product offering beyond fuel. Rail companies like Union Pacific (UNP), Canadian Pacific (CP), Kansas City Southern (KSU) and Genesee and Wyoming (GWR) have also benefited substantially. Given that shale areas are rural and often lacking infrastructure, substantial investment must be made to support drilling and production activities. Without pipelines in place, railroads have been the primary takeaway mechanism for moving production to the various clusters of refining capacity around the United States. In order to serve this demand, massive investment in railcars has been nee

• [By Kelley Wright]

  We like energy, a sector that is benefiting Union Pacific (UNP). With limited pipelines, however, crude oil and petroleum derivatives have to get to refineries and ports somehow. With almost 32,000 rail miles linking both coasts and the Midwest with the Gulf ports, UNP is just the ticket. The $3.16 dividend is very a! ttractive! , as is the S&P "A" Quality Ranking.

source from Top Stocks Blog:http://www.topstocksblog.com/hot-transportation-companies-for-2015.html