Buffett now owns 15% of Texas railroad

Interest by the legendary investor has attracted others to railroad stocks.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Warren Buffett’s investment company further boosted its ownership of the nation’s railways this month, acquiring 845,000 shares of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The purchase, filed late Thursday with the SEC, raised the legendary investor’s stake in the Fort Worth, Texas-based railroad to 15 percent, just short of 53 million shares.

Buffett has said railroads have become an appealing investment because they are healthier today than in past years, something he said he was slow to realize because of past poor performance in the industry.

Berkshire’s interest in railroads this year has attracted other investors, creating a spike in share prices.

What’s resulted

Burlington Northern set a 52-week high of $95.47 on April 20, 11 days after Berkshire disclosed its stake.

A May SEC filing revealed Berkshire owned 10.5 million shares of Union Pacific Corp. and nearly 6.4 million shares of Norfolk Southern Corp.

Union Pacific set its 52-week high of $129.36 on July 18, while Norfolk Southern set its 52-week high July 19.

A Berkshire spokeswoman said Friday morning that the company would make no comment.

Shares of all three railroads rose Friday. Burlington shares jumped $2.94, or 3.8 percent, to $81.15. Union Pacific shares rose $3.71, or 3.4 percent, to $111.57, and Norfolk shares climbed 72 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $51.21.

Berkshire owns furniture, insurance, jewelry and candy companies, restaurants, natural gas and corporate jet firms and has major investments in such companies as The Coca-Cola Co. and Wells Fargo & Co.

Class A shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. fell $120 to $118,390.