Cerity Partners LLC Raises Position in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 180,588 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,288 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $52,139,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Erste Asset Management GmbH raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 161.1% in the 4th quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 4,504 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 2,779 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 43,408 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $12,533,000 after acquiring an additional 3,887 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 194 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,104,000. Finally, ING Groep NV increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 151.3% in the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 72,899 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $21,047,000 after acquiring an additional 43,895 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on NSC shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $315.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $313.00 to $337.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Evercore set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $322.71.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:NSC opened at $312.67 on Wednesday. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a one year low of $247.85 and a one year high of $326.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $306.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $299.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.34, a PEG ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 1.27.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.91% and a return on equity of 18.30%. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.49%.

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.