First Manhattan CO. LLC. Has $1.05 Million Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 42.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,488 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,344 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 304 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $727,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 6,881 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 960 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,507 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on NSC shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $255.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $266.10.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NSC opened at $223.69 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $225.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $242.76. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1-year low of $201.63 and a 1-year high of $277.60. The firm has a market cap of $50.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

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

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.89%.

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.