Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 709,900 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 22,300 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.31% of Norfolk Southern worth $167,806,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NSC. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 44,553 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $8,774,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $225,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 35.8% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 14,810 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,917,000 after purchasing an additional 3,905 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 59.0% during the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 5,974 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 2,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 0.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 110,341 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $21,729,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $245.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $277.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $175.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NSC traded up $1.75 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $235.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,072,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,324,604. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $183.09 and a fifty-two week high of $263.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.93, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $250.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $233.40.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by ($0.09). Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 11.76%. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.32 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 86.96%.

About Norfolk Southern

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.