Capital World Investors Purchases 4,085 Shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Capital World Investors raised its stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,638,009 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,085 shares during the period. Capital World Investors’ holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $492,074,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 40.4% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,447 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,855 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the second quarter valued at $327,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 64.1% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 4,275 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after acquiring an additional 1,670 shares during the period. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 2,400 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $614,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on NSC. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $299.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $317.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Evercore boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $298.00 to $299.00 in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, UBS Group cut Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $342.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eighteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $308.95.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE NSC opened at $298.96 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $300.48 and a 200 day moving average of $291.87. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 1 year low of $201.63 and a 1 year high of $319.94. The stock has a market cap of $67.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 1.31.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.46. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 23.59% and a return on equity of 18.78%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.35%.

About Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern Corporation is a major U.S. freight railroad company that provides rail transportation and related logistics services. As a Class I carrier, the company operates an extensive network across the eastern United States and offers scheduled freight service for a broad range of industries. Its core operations include long-haul and regional rail freight transportation, intermodal services that move containers and trailers between rail and other modes, and terminal and switching services that support efficient rail shipments for industrial and port customers.

The company transports a variety of commodities, serving sectors such as coal and energy, automotive and automotive parts, chemicals, agriculture, metals and construction materials, and consumer goods.