Capital Investment Advisors LLC Grows Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 10.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,849 shares of the railroad operator's stock after buying an additional 2,702 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $6,833,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,694,573 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $1,098,472,000 after purchasing an additional 113,648 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 5,678 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $1,333,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Hoge Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $238,000. Members Trust Co raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 2,575 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 51,647 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $12,122,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $247.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $305.00 to $290.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $278.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $255.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $267.24.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NYSE NSC traded down $1.53 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $251.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,029,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,231,628. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $56.67 billion, a PE ratio of 21.75, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.32. The company's 50-day moving average is $230.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $240.40. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.63 and a fifty-two week high of $277.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 21.63%. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.49 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. Norfolk Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.