Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. trimmed its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,920 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 208 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $927,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,933,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,444,000. Pathstone Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 200.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 16,077 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $3,198,000 after purchasing an additional 10,719 shares in the last quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,973,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 187,259 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $36,877,000 after purchasing an additional 16,727 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on NSC shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $300.00 target price for the company. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $245.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.33.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NSC stock opened at $245.57 on Tuesday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12 month low of $183.09 and a 12 month high of $263.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $253.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $230.00.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by ($0.04). Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 21.06% and a net margin of 15.03%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.42 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. Norfolk Southern’s 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.