Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. Buys 570 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. increased its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 52.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,666 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $391,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 723 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 2,823 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $663,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $258,000. Finally, OLIO Financial Planning increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 52.7% during the 4th quarter. OLIO Financial Planning now owns 1,544 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on NSC shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $298.00 to $259.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered shares of Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $289.00 to $256.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $266.50.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NSC opened at $240.30 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $227.25 and its 200 day moving average is $241.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $54.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.63 and a fifty-two week high of $277.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.72 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 21.63%. Norfolk Southern’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.49 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 36.89%.

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.