Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Buys 327 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,903 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 327 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Provence Wealth Management Group bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 662.5% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 122 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NSC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $245.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Loop Capital increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $255.00 to $305.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NYSE:NSC opened at $235.55 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $53.21 billion, a PE ratio of 37.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $249.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $233.98. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $183.09 and a 52 week high of $263.66.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 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.