Steph & Co. Sells 67 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Steph & Co. cut its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 775 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 67 shares during the period. Steph & Co.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NSC. Boltwood Capital Management grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 2,145 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 1,896 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 262 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 10,454 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,059,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 4,403 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group upgraded Norfolk Southern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $238.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Norfolk Southern in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.33.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE NSC traded down $3.57 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $239.34. The stock had a trading volume of 1,011,058 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,280,049. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $183.09 and a fifty-two week high of $263.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.24. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $253.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.32. The company has a market cap of $58.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.29, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by ($0.04). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 15.03% and a return on equity of 21.06%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 67.33%.

About Norfolk Southern

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.