Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Stake Boosted by ORG Partners LLC

ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 45.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,301 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the quarter. ORG Partners LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 3.2% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,629,330 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,699,371,000 after purchasing an additional 264,031 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 0.3% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,112,708 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $869,600,000 after purchasing an additional 13,513 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 0.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,073,839 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $605,331,000 after purchasing an additional 26,686 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 95,518.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 86.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,724,821 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $671,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,666 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NSC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Norfolk Southern in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley cut Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $185.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Benchmark raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.33.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NYSE:NSC opened at $245.74 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $253.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $229.42. The firm has a market cap of $60.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.64, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52-week low of $183.09 and a 52-week high of $263.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 21.06% and a net margin of 15.03%. Norfolk Southern’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.33%.

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.