Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Bought by W Advisors LLC

W Advisors LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,512 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the quarter. W Advisors LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $357,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of NSC. Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter worth $28,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 662.5% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 122 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in Norfolk Southern in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NSC traded up $1.75 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $235.55. The stock had a trading volume of 1,072,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,327,953. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $249.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.59. The firm has a market cap of $53.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $183.09 and a fifty-two week high of $263.66.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 11.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.32 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.62 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

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 $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on NSC shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays raised Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $305.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Norfolk Southern in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.32.

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.