Royal Bank of Canada Sells 265,633 Shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Royal Bank of Canada cut its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 37.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 444,019 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 265,633 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $127,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NSC. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,272,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 3,887 shares in the last quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. now owns 50,620 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $14,615,000 after buying an additional 16,720 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 138,194 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $39,899,000 after buying an additional 10,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 54.4% during the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 51,112 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $14,757,000 after buying an additional 18,012 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NSC. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $308.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $360.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Stephens raised shares of Norfolk Southern to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $348.00.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NSC stock opened at $333.72 on Friday. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 1-year low of $268.23 and a 1-year high of $358.60. The firm has a market cap of $74.96 billion, a PE ratio of 28.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.98 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50-day moving average of $319.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $307.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.20. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.02% and a return on equity of 18.21%. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.6 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 46.08%.

About Norfolk Southern

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.