Verus Financial Partners Inc. Has $462,000 Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Verus Financial Partners Inc. lessened its holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,973 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 106 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Everpar Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $649,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,840 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $672,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,296,632 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $306,498,000 after purchasing an additional 38,080 shares during the last quarter. Petix & Botte Co bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter worth $236,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,173 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,351 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NSC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays raised shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $305.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $185.00 to $175.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC traded down $6.65 on Thursday, reaching $225.49. The stock had a trading volume of 2,840,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,341,804. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $50.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.30. 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 50-day moving average of $248.82 and a 200-day moving average of $234.41.

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 return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 11.76%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.62 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.