917 Shares in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Bought by Tilt Investment Management Holdings PBC

Tilt Investment Management Holdings PBC bought a new position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 917 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 72.0% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 767 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $181,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 20,479 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $4,841,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470 shares during the period. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $984,000. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Cullen Investment Group LTD. bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $281,000. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NSC. Morgan Stanley cut Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $185.00 to $175.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays upgraded Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $305.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned 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 an average price target of $262.74.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NSC opened at $240.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $253.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.45. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52-week low of $183.09 and a 52-week high of $263.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.12 billion, a PE ratio of 29.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 15.03% and a return on equity of 21.06%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. Norfolk Southern’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 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.