IFM Investors Pty Ltd Purchases 4,043 Shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 6.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,561 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 4,043 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $16,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 139,485 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 918,559 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 113,648 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted 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 during the period. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 1.9% in the 4th 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 last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NSC. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $269.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $247.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $255.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $267.48.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

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

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 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 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 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.