Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC Shares Purchased by Empyrean Capital Partners LP

Empyrean Capital Partners LP increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 49.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 203,800 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 67,300 shares during the quarter. Norfolk Southern makes up approximately 2.1% of Empyrean Capital Partners LP’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Empyrean Capital Partners LP owned approximately 0.09% of Norfolk Southern worth $58,841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NSC. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $24,033,000. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 7.9% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,132,583 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $340,239,000 after purchasing an additional 82,500 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 43,408 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $12,533,000 after purchasing an additional 3,887 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 47.0% during the third quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 25,298 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $7,600,000 after purchasing an additional 8,090 shares during the period. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 11.7% during the third quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 15,143 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $4,549,000 after purchasing an additional 1,587 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NSC shares. UBS Group set a $327.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Norfolk Southern from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $296.00 to $292.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $315.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $322.71.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC opened at $300.38 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $309.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $300.56. The firm has a market cap of $67.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.31, a PEG ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 1.27. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a twelve month low of $250.65 and a twelve month high of $326.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.91% and a return on equity of 18.30%. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.69 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.49%.

Norfolk Southern Company Profile

Norfolk Southern Corporation is a major U.S. freight railroad company that provides rail transportation and related logistics services. As a Class I carrier, the company operates an extensive network across the eastern United States and offers scheduled freight service for a broad range of industries. Its core operations include long-haul and regional rail freight transportation, intermodal services that move containers and trailers between rail and other modes, and terminal and switching services that support efficient rail shipments for industrial and port customers.

The company transports a variety of commodities, serving sectors such as coal and energy, automotive and automotive parts, chemicals, agriculture, metals and construction materials, and consumer goods.