Davidson Trust Co. Buys 925 Shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC)

Davidson Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 92.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,925 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 925 shares during the period. Davidson Trust Co.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 139,485 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,608,080 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,020,318,000 after acquiring an additional 918,559 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,694,573 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,098,472,000 after acquiring an additional 113,648 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 16.9% during 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 last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,968,582 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $931,426,000 after purchasing an additional 75,865 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NYSE NSC opened at $262.50 on Friday. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 52-week low of $201.63 and a 52-week high of $277.60. The company has a fifty day moving average of $243.25 and a 200-day moving average of $239.60. The company has a market capitalization of $59.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released 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). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 27.40% and a return on equity of 19.65%. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.49 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 36.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NSC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $247.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Baird R W raised shares of Norfolk Southern to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $269.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Norfolk Southern from $298.00 to $259.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $267.48.

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.