Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) Stock Position Raised by Cutler Investment Counsel LLC

Cutler Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 99.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,008 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 918,559 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 worth $1,098,472,000 after buying an additional 113,648 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $931,426,000 after buying an additional 75,865 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,073,933 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $721,452,000 after acquiring an additional 371,589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,870,443 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $673,693,000 after acquiring an additional 233,927 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock opened at $278.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $62.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $257.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $243.92. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 52-week low of $201.63 and a 52-week high of $288.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.24 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 27.40% and a return on equity of 19.65%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is presently 36.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NSC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup lowered shares of Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $259.00 to $288.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $255.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $278.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $282.50.

About Norfolk Southern

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.