Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Acquires 346 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,600 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 346 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $2,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NSC. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 3.2% in 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 during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 0.9% during 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 in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake 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 during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 3.2% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, London Co. of Virginia lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 41.2% in the 3rd quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 1,976,871 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $389,305,000 after acquiring an additional 577,171 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NSC. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $277.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $185.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Norfolk Southern in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price objective on the stock. 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, Norfolk Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC traded up $1.75 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $235.55. The company had a trading volume of 1,072,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,327,953. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $183.09 and a twelve month high of $263.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $249.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $233.59. The company has a market capitalization 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 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 11.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.32 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

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