Sentry Investment Management LLC Trims Stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,191 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 128 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 95,518.3% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,028,232 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $746,217,000 after acquiring an additional 3,025,065 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $537,007,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 86.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,724,821 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $671,451,000 after buying an additional 1,265,666 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 69.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,723,398 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $536,319,000 after buying an additional 1,112,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 33.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,546,214 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $627,438,000 after purchasing an additional 638,384 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NSC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $255.00 to $305.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Citigroup boosted 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 reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $245.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.33.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NSC opened at $245.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $60.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $183.09 and a twelve month high of $263.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The company has a 50 day moving average of $253.91 and a 200 day moving average of $230.00.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is presently 67.33%.

Norfolk Southern 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.