Lincoln National Corp Sells 109 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Lincoln National Corp cut its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,840 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 109 shares during the quarter. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,617,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Provence Wealth Management Group purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the third quarter worth $28,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 662.5% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 122 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on NSC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays raised shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $255.00 to $305.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 0.1 %

NSC traded down $0.13 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $232.19. The stock had a trading volume of 178,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,314,349. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $248.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $234.41. The company has a market capitalization of $52.45 billion, a PE ratio of 37.41, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.68. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $183.09 and a twelve month high of $263.66.

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

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 86.96%.

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.