Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Sold by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,339 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 87 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake 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. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 0.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,073,839 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $605,331,000 after buying an additional 26,686 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 69.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,723,398 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $536,319,000 after acquiring an additional 1,112,261 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 3.2% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,385,434 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $469,764,000 after acquiring an additional 73,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.5% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,001,507 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $394,157,000 after acquiring an additional 49,224 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NSC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $277.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $245.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NSC opened at $241.34 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.86, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12 month low of $183.09 and a 12 month high of $263.66. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $251.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $233.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

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

About Norfolk Southern

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.