Central Pacific Bank Trust Division Has $3.39 Million Stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lessened its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 6.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,329 shares of the railroad operator's stock after selling 1,038 shares during the quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division's holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $3,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in NSC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,089,164 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $4,714,927,000 after buying an additional 139,485 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,608,080 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $2,020,318,000 after purchasing an additional 918,559 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 2.5% in 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 during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,020,392 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $945,385,000 after purchasing an additional 580,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,968,582 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $931,426,000 after purchasing an additional 75,865 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on NSC. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Norfolk Southern in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $293.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $267.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $298.00 to $259.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $305.00 to $290.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $267.24.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC stock traded down $1.90 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $245.22. 612,402 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,299,831. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $228.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $240.92. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1-year low of $201.63 and a 1-year high of $277.60. The company has a market cap of $55.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.72 by ($0.03). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 20.04%. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.49 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Norfolk Southern's payout ratio is 36.89%.

About Norfolk Southern

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.