Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC Sells 311 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 11.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,446 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 311 shares during the period. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,629,330 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,699,371,000 after purchasing an additional 264,031 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.3% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,112,708 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $869,600,000 after buying an additional 13,513 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,073,839 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $605,331,000 after acquiring an additional 26,686 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 95,518.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,028,232 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $746,217,000 after acquiring an additional 3,025,065 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 86.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,724,821 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $671,451,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265,666 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE NSC traded up $1.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $241.28. The company had a trading volume of 963,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,271,154. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12-month low of $183.09 and a 12-month high of $263.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The business’s 50-day moving average is $253.23 and its 200 day moving average is $230.45. The stock has a market cap of $59.41 billion, a PE ratio of 30.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.87 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 15.03% and a return on equity of 21.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 67.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on NSC shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Barclays raised shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $305.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.74.

Norfolk Southern Company 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.