Bison Wealth LLC Has $528,000 Stock Holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Bison Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,233 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the quarter. Bison Wealth LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern in the first quarter valued at about $81,000. United Bank lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.0% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 7,581 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,162,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 4.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,640 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,464,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 13.3% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,946 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. TheStreet upgraded Norfolk Southern from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $175.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.33.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NSC opened at $242.90 on Wednesday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12-month low of $183.09 and a 12-month high of $263.66. The stock has a market cap of $59.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.29, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $253.73 and a 200-day moving average of $230.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.42 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 12 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 67.33%.

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.