Top Transportation Stocks To Buy For 2015

Top Transportation Stocks To Buy 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 Erin McCarthy]

  Union Pacific Corp.(UNP) unveiled a two-for-one stock split and said it will increase this year’s capital spending to $4.1 billion.

  Carmike Cinemas Inc.(CKEC), the nation’s fourth-largest movie theater chain, said Thursday it is acquiring Digital Cinema Destinations Corp.(DCIN), a smaller rival that does business as Digiplex.

• [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 weather 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

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