Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Sells 152 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,497 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 152 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter worth $2,933,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,444,000. Pathstone Family Office LLC raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 200.1% during the third quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 16,077 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $3,198,000 after acquiring an additional 10,719 shares in the last quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the third quarter worth about $34,973,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 187,259 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $36,877,000 after purchasing an additional 16,727 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised Norfolk Southern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $238.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.74.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NSC stock opened at $244.61 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $252.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $231.71. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1-year low of $183.09 and a 1-year high of $263.66. The firm has a market cap of $60.23 billion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

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

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 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.