ProShare Advisors LLC Has $13.03 Million Holdings in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,120 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,273 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $13,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NSC. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 207.1% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 86 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 933.3% during the fourth quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 93 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. MMA Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter worth $28,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 669.2% during the third quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 100 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NSC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Norfolk Southern from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Norfolk Southern from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group set a $327.00 price target on Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $319.83.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NYSE NSC opened at $311.47 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $69.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.24, a PEG ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a twelve month low of $236.37 and a twelve month high of $323.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $300.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $296.87.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.16. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 21.91%.The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.11 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 45.49%.

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.