Thomasville National Bank Sells 100 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Thomasville National Bank lowered its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 5.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,830 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Thomasville National Bank’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $433,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently 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 valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $727,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC now owns 3,327 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $781,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Malaga Cove Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Malaga Cove Capital LLC now owns 2,451 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $575,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,772 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NSC has been the topic of several research reports. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $269.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group raised their price target on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Norfolk Southern in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $293.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $267.24.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NSC opened at $248.30 on Friday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12-month low of $201.63 and a 12-month high of $277.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a market cap of $55.98 billion, a PE ratio of 21.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $232.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $240.12.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its 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). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 20.04%. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. 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.