883 Shares in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Acquired by MJP Associates Inc. ADV

MJP Associates Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 883 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 95,518.3% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,028,232 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $746,217,000 after acquiring an additional 3,025,065 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $537,007,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 86.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,724,821 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $671,451,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265,666 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 69.0% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,723,398 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $536,319,000 after acquiring an additional 1,112,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 33.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,546,214 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $627,438,000 after acquiring an additional 638,384 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on NSC shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $215.00 to $207.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group upgraded Norfolk Southern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $238.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Bank of America upgraded Norfolk Southern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $204.00 to $248.00 in a research note on Friday, December 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $245.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $252.38.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock traded up $3.15 during trading on Thursday, hitting $254.87. The stock had a trading volume of 979,908 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,364,901. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $183.09 and a fifty-two week high of $263.66. The firm has a market cap of $62.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business has a fifty day moving average of $251.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $225.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.87 by ($0.04). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 15.03% and a return on equity of 21.06%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 12.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 67.33%.

Norfolk Southern Profile

Norfolk Southern Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods in the United States. The company transports agriculture, forest, and consumer products comprising soybeans, wheat, corn, fertilizers, livestock and poultry feed, food products, food oils, flour, sweeteners, ethanol, lumber and wood products, pulp board and paper products, wood fibers, wood pulp, beverages, and canned goods; chemicals consist of sulfur and related chemicals, petroleum products comprising crude oil, chlorine and bleaching compounds, plastics, rubber, industrial chemicals, chemical wastes, sand, and natural gas liquids; metals and construction materials, such as steel, aluminum products, machinery, scrap metals, cement, aggregates, minerals, clay, transportation equipment, and military-related products; and automotive, including finished motor vehicles and automotive parts, as well as coal.