Welch & Forbes LLC Decreases Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Welch & Forbes LLC decreased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,394 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $330,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NSC. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,016 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 9,986 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,360,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,456 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,762,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 1,679 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boltwood Capital Management boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 2,145 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on NSC. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $277.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NSC stock traded down $1.02 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $231.30. The company had a trading volume of 335,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,315,668. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $248.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $234.41. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52-week low of $183.09 and a 52-week high of $263.66. The company has a market capitalization of $52.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The business’s revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.32 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.96%.

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.