Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Purchased by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 190,945 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 21,532 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $45,137,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avestar Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $273,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.0% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 127,150 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $25,040,000 after buying an additional 1,237 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 24.7% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 450 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 44,553 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $8,774,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $225,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NSC has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $245.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock opened at $241.34 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $251.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.21. The company has a market cap of $54.52 billion, a PE ratio of 38.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a one year low of $183.09 and a one year high of $263.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.58 by ($0.09). Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 11.76%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.32 earnings per share. Norfolk Southern’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.96%.

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.