Bank of New York Mellon Corp Has $427.26 Million Stock Position in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,803,907 shares of the railroad operator's stock after selling 38,075 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.73% of Norfolk Southern worth $427,255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NSC. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,210 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $753,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $218,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $105,225,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,285 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $269.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $247.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $298.00 to $259.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $267.48.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE NSC traded down $2.49 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $260.01. The company had a trading volume of 860,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,236,786. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $244.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $239.82. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 12-month low of $201.63 and a 12-month high of $277.60. The company has a market capitalization of $58.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.76, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.72 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 27.40% and a return on equity of 19.65%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.49 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. Norfolk Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.89%.

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.