Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. Makes New $918,000 Investment in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,885 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $918,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Provence Wealth Management Group purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 662.5% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 122 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on NSC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $277.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays raised Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $305.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NYSE NSC traded down $11.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $230.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,569,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,320,261. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $251.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $233.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $183.09 and a 1 year high of $263.66. The company has a market capitalization of $52.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.09, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by ($0.09). Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 11.76%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be issued 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 dividend yield of 2.34%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.96%.

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.