Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Acquired by Davidson Investment Advisors

Davidson Investment Advisors increased its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,706 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors’ holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $13,766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 96,900.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 10,018,183 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,271,723,000 after purchasing an additional 10,007,855 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,025,065 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $537,007,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 86.7% in 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 period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 221.8% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,124,545 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $238,404,000 after purchasing an additional 775,059 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on NSC shares. Bank of America downgraded Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $266.00 to $215.00 in a report on Monday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $253.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 3rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $243.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $245.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.15.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NYSE NSC traded down $0.39 on Monday, reaching $210.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 733,116 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,384,125. The firm has a market cap of $47.64 billion, a PE ratio of 23.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $198.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.29. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $183.09 and a 52 week high of $261.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 25th. The railroad operator reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.74 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 22.26% and a net margin of 16.96%. Sell-side analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.81 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 59.21%.

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.