New Hampshire Trust Reduces Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

New Hampshire Trust lowered its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,304 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 144 shares during the quarter. New Hampshire Trust’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,089,164 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $4,714,927,000 after purchasing an additional 139,485 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,608,080 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,020,318,000 after purchasing an additional 918,559 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,020,392 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $945,385,000 after purchasing an additional 580,293 shares during the period. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,968,582 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $931,426,000 after purchasing an additional 75,865 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:NSC opened at $247.11 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $228.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $241.28. The stock has a market cap of $55.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.38, 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. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 21.63%. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 36.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on NSC. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $293.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $247.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. 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 research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $266.70.

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.