OLD National Bancorp IN Trims Stock Holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

OLD National Bancorp IN trimmed its holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,787 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 479 shares during the quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,132,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Provence Wealth Management Group bought a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 662.5% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 122 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group raised shares of Norfolk Southern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $238.00 to $302.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $175.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price objective for the company. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.74.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:NSC opened at $245.03 on Wednesday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a one year low of $183.09 and a one year high of $263.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $252.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $232.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.55, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted 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 return on equity of 21.06% and a net margin of 15.03%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 67.33%.

About Norfolk Southern

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.