Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Sold by Transform Wealth LLC

Transform Wealth LLC trimmed its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 4.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,028 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 52 shares during the quarter. Transform Wealth LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $243,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NSC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 0.7% during 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 buying an additional 139,485 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 11.9% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 918,559 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,694,573 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,098,472,000 after purchasing an additional 113,648 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 16.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its position in 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. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NSC. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $247.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $305.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $255.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Norfolk Southern in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $293.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $267.24.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NSC stock opened at $251.39 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $231.12 and its 200-day moving average is $240.48. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $201.63 and a 1 year high of $277.60. The stock has a market cap of $56.67 billion, a PE ratio of 21.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.32. 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 (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.72 by ($0.03). Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 21.63%. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.49 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend 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.