Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Sold by Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.

Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,893 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 222 shares during the period. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $448,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 852 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $81,000. United Bank increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 7,581 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,640 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,464,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,946 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on NSC. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $238.00 to $237.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.38.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NSC traded up $0.94 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $252.66. 238,268 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,356,082. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $250.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $225.12. The stock has a market cap of $62.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.34, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a one year low of $183.09 and a one year high of $263.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.42 EPS. Norfolk Southern’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 12.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. Norfolk Southern’s 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.