Greenleaf Trust Acquires 898 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,998 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 898 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,891,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.2% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.3% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.9% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 95,518.3% during the 4th 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. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of 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 worth $671,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,666 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on NSC. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays raised shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $255.00 to $305.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.74.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NSC opened at $241.28 on Friday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1-year low of $183.09 and a 1-year high of $263.66. The company has a market cap of $59.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.08, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $252.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $231.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.87 by ($0.04). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 15.03% and a return on equity of 21.06%. The company 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 earnings per share. Norfolk Southern’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is presently 67.33%.

Norfolk Southern Company 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.