New Hampshire Trust Cuts Stock Position in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

New Hampshire Trust lessened its stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,941 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 363 shares during the quarter. New Hampshire Trust’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,179 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $990,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 18,012 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $4,267,000 after buying an additional 2,115 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 2,038.9% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 385 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 1,013 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Norfolk Southern stock opened at $280.29 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $62.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $285.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $262.58. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 12-month low of $201.63 and a 12-month high of $302.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.31 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 24.22%.Norfolk Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NSC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $289.00 to $298.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Bank of America lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $299.70.

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.