Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Sold by Private Management Group Inc.

Private Management Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,054 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 93 shares during the quarter. Private Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NSC. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 3,586 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $848,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $314,000. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 11,081 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,619,000 after purchasing an additional 1,523 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,984 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $705,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1900 Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $668,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 3.6 %

NYSE:NSC traded down $8.81 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $236.22. 2,444,056 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,274,665. The firm has a market cap of $58.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.30. 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 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $252.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $232.09.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.87 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 15.03% and a return on equity of 21.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 67.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NSC. Citigroup increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. UBS Group upgraded Norfolk Southern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $238.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Norfolk Southern in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price objective for the company. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.74.

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.