1,143 Shares in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Acquired by Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,143 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $270,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,629,330 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,699,371,000 after acquiring an additional 264,031 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,073,839 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $605,331,000 after purchasing an additional 26,686 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 69.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,723,398 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $536,319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112,261 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 3.2% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,385,434 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $469,764,000 after buying an additional 73,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, London Co. of Virginia increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 41.2% in the 3rd quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 1,976,871 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $389,305,000 after buying an additional 577,171 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC traded up $1.75 during trading on Friday, reaching $235.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,072,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,327,953. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $249.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.59. The company has a market cap of $53.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.93, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $183.09 and a 1 year high of $263.66.

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 return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 11.76%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.32 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.62 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 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.