Sapient Capital LLC Decreases Stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Sapient Capital LLC lowered its holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 4.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,188 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 151 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $813,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 662.5% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 122 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the first quarter valued at $34,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Provence Wealth Management Group purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 317.1% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 146 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of NYSE:NSC traded down $11.12 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $230.32. The company had a trading volume of 3,569,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,320,261. The stock has a market cap of $52.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a one year low of $183.09 and a one year high of $263.66. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $251.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.58 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 19.61%. Norfolk Southern’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 86.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Barclays raised Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $305.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.32.

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.