Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. Cuts Stock Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,016 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 743 shares during the period. Norfolk Southern makes up 1.5% of Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $2,271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NSC. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.3% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,112,708 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $869,600,000 after buying an additional 13,513 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 95,518.3% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,028,232 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $746,217,000 after acquiring an additional 3,025,065 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 86.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,724,821 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $671,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,666 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,546,214 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $627,438,000 after purchasing an additional 638,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $537,007,000. Institutional investors own 72.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $242.00 to $262.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 11th. Finally, Vertical Research raised Norfolk Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.40.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NSC stock traded up $1.35 during trading on Monday, hitting $205.38. The company had a trading volume of 433,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,422,446. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $194.05 and a 52 week high of $261.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $218.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $214.58.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The railroad operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.45 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 12.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 4th were issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 3rd. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 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.