Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 10.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,600 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $590,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 95,518.3% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,028,232 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $746,217,000 after purchasing an additional 3,025,065 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $537,007,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,265,666 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 221.8% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,124,545 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $238,404,000 after acquiring an additional 775,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 33.5% in the fourth 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 during the period. 72.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $210.00 to $227.00 in a report on Friday, July 28th. Vertical Research raised Norfolk Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 11th. StockNews.com began coverage on Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $242.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $260.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 11th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.40.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NSC stock traded down $3.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $201.12. 112,451 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,417,877. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $218.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $214.58. The company has a market cap of $45.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.29. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12-month low of $194.05 and a 12-month high of $261.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The railroad operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 20.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 12.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 4th were given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 48.56%.

Norfolk Southern Profile

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.