Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC Has $826,000 Holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC – Get Rating) by 66.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,333 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 1,333 shares during the quarter. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,647,054 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,603,203,000 after buying an additional 1,181,936 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 216.8% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,044,472 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $218,973,000 after purchasing an additional 714,737 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 31.4% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,330,991 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $529,811,000 after purchasing an additional 557,432 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 63.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 1,324,376 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $277,655,000 after purchasing an additional 512,626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 64.3% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 620,400 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $141,011,000 after purchasing an additional 242,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.98% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NSC stock traded down $3.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $203.90. 2,713,794 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,674,498. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $235.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $236.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.44 billion, a PE ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1-year low of $202.40 and a 1-year high of $291.55.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 25.66% and a return on equity of 24.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.12 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 2nd. This is an increase from Norfolk Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on NSC shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $244.00 in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Benchmark decreased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $280.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Norfolk Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $273.00 to $266.00 in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 29th. Finally, Argus cut Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $250.17.

Norfolk Southern Company Profile

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Norfolk Southern Corp. is a transportation company, which engages in the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods. The company also transports overseas freight through several Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports. Its services include property leases and sales, wire line or pipeline and fiber optics projects, access property, managing private crossings, promoting businesses with signboards, and natural resource management.