Waldron Private Wealth LLC Buys 162 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,203 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NSC. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 9.2% in the first quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 852 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $81,000. United Bank raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.0% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 7,581 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,640 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,464,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 13.3% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,946 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock traded up $1.16 during trading on Monday, hitting $246.90. 87,715 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,279,065. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $183.09 and a 1 year high of $263.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.64, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $253.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $229.66.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released 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). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 15.03% and a return on equity of 21.06%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.42 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 67.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on NSC shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. TheStreet raised Norfolk Southern from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. TD Cowen upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley cut Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays raised Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $305.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.33.

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.