Sapient Capital LLC Reduces Stock Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Sapient Capital LLC cut its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 4.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,188 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 151 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $813,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 956 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,016 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 9,986 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,360,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,456 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,762,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 1,679 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 4.6 %

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

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.58 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.32 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 86.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NSC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays upgraded Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $305.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Company 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.