Magellan Asset Management Ltd Sells 23,218 Shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Magellan Asset Management Ltd cut its holdings in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 10.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 206,026 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 23,218 shares during the quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $59,129,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $1,084,701,000. Pentwater Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern during the third quarter worth $826,128,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 545.2% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,306,203 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $392,396,000 after buying an additional 1,103,748 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Norfolk Southern during the third quarter valued at about $329,629,000. Finally, HBK Investments L P lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 67.7% in the fourth quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 2,130,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $614,974,000 after buying an additional 860,000 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on NSC shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced 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. Evercore set a $325.00 target price on Norfolk Southern in a research report on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group set a $327.00 price target on Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Norfolk Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $329.35.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 0.9%

NSC stock opened at $331.81 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.12 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50-day moving average of $315.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $305.12. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 52-week low of $268.23 and a 52-week high of $342.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.24 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.49%.

Norfolk Southern Profile

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.