Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC Sells 73 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 17,458 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 73 shares during the quarter. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $4,127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Boltwood Capital Management grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 2,145 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $507,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 1,896 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $448,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 262 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 10,454 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,059,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 4,403 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on NSC shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $245.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $262.33.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NYSE NSC traded down $2.66 on Wednesday, hitting $242.91. 823,417 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 954,892. The business’s fifty day moving average is $253.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $230.32. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12 month low of $183.09 and a 12 month high of $263.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.29, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 21.06% and a net margin of 15.03%. The company’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.