Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Stake Boosted by PFG Investments LLC

PFG Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 57.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,971 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 717 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $502,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,629,330 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,699,371,000 after purchasing an additional 264,031 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 0.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,073,839 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $605,331,000 after buying an additional 26,686 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 69.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,723,398 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $536,319,000 after buying an additional 1,112,261 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,385,434 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $469,764,000 after acquiring an additional 73,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $556,797,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NSC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $175.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock traded up $1.40 during trading on Monday, hitting $241.34. 1,385,043 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,292,828. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $183.09 and a twelve month high of $263.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The company has a market cap of $54.52 billion, a PE ratio of 38.86, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $251.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $233.21.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by ($0.09). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.32 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.96%.

Norfolk Southern Profile

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.