FAS Wealth Partners Inc. Reduces Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

FAS Wealth Partners Inc. lowered its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 17.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,379 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 299 shares during the period. FAS Wealth Partners Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $324,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 255,200 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $63,417,000 after purchasing an additional 8,844 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,694,573 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,098,472,000 after purchasing an additional 113,648 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,796,000. Grandview Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $918,000. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 5,678 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,333,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on NSC. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $247.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $298.00 to $259.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $292.00 to $272.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $266.10.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE NSC opened at $221.87 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $50.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.90. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $201.63 and a 1 year high of $277.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $228.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $244.22.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.72 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 20.04%. Norfolk Southern’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.49 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.89%.

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.