5,050 Shares in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Purchased by RWA Wealth Partners LLC

RWA Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 5,050 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,194,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,016 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,456 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,762,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 2,145 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $507,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 1,896 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 4,403 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NYSE NSC opened at $236.14 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $252.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $232.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.14 billion, a PE ratio of 29.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $183.09 and a 1 year high of $263.66.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.87 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 15.03% and a return on equity of 21.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.42 EPS. Analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 2.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on NSC. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of 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. TD Cowen boosted their price target 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. UBS Group raised shares of Norfolk Southern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $238.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.74.

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.