Cozad Asset Management Inc. Acquires 100 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,623 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $384,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 127,150 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $25,040,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.4% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 44,553 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $8,774,000 after buying an additional 1,053 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at about $225,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 35.8% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 14,810 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,917,000 after acquiring an additional 3,905 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 28,282 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $5,570,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NSC. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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 cut their target price on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NSC opened at $230.50 on Thursday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $183.09 and a twelve month high of $263.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $52.07 billion, a PE ratio of 37.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50 day moving average is $250.60 and its 200 day moving average is $233.39.

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). The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 11.76%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.32 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.62 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 presently 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.