First National Bank of Omaha Acquires Shares of 4,021 Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

First National Bank of Omaha purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 4,021 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,273,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 40.4% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,447 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,527,000 after buying an additional 1,855 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the second quarter worth $327,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 64.1% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 4,275 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after buying an additional 1,670 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 185.1% during the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 4,588 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after acquiring an additional 2,979 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NSC shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $337.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Stephens upgraded Norfolk Southern to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $337.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $348.00.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 2.0%

Norfolk Southern stock opened at $345.56 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $77.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 1.27. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 12 month low of $268.23 and a 12 month high of $358.60. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $326.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $312.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.20. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.02% and a return on equity of 18.21%. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.66 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 46.08%.

Norfolk Southern Company Profile

Norfolk Southern Corporation is a major U.S. freight railroad company that provides rail transportation and related logistics services. As a Class I carrier, the company operates an extensive network across the eastern United States and offers scheduled freight service for a broad range of industries. Its core operations include long-haul and regional rail freight transportation, intermodal services that move containers and trailers between rail and other modes, and terminal and switching services that support efficient rail shipments for industrial and port customers.

The company transports a variety of commodities, serving sectors such as coal and energy, automotive and automotive parts, chemicals, agriculture, metals and construction materials, and consumer goods.