Prelude Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Prelude Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 17,781 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $3,770,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. OLD Mission Capital LLC purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, AXS Investments LLC purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NSC. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 11th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $226.00 to $257.00 in a research note on Monday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $242.00 to $262.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $243.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.40.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC stock traded up $2.01 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $200.56. The stock had a trading volume of 605,844 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,420,503. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $219.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.03. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1-year low of $194.05 and a 1-year high of $261.71. The stock has a market cap of $45.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The railroad operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by ($0.20). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 20.25% and a return on equity of 24.88%. The company had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.45 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 12.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 4th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 3rd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.56%.

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.