Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC Stake Lifted by Farther Finance Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 248.1% in Q4, acquiring an additional 10,843 shares to hold 15,214 shares valued at about $4.39 million.
• Analysts' consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $308.78 after multiple firms revised their targets and ratings in recent months.
• Norfolk Southern reported Q4 EPS of $3.22 (beating estimates of $2.76) while revenue was $3.0 billion (down 1.7% y/y); the stock trades near $302.43 and yields 1.8% from a $1.35 quarterly dividend.

Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 248.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,214 shares of the railroad operator's stock after acquiring an additional 10,843 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC's holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $4,393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 75.0% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 84 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 207.1% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 86 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 933.3% during the 4th quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 93 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MMA Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NSC has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group lowered shares of Norfolk Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $342.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $317.00 to $308.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $340.00 to $320.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $300.00 to $313.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Norfolk Southern from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $308.78.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 0.1%

NSC stock opened at $302.43 on Friday. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 12 month low of $214.78 and a 12 month high of $319.94. The firm has a market cap of $74.04 billion, a PE ratio of 23.72, a P/E/G ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $300.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $293.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.46. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 23.59% and a return on equity of 18.78%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.04 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Norfolk Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.35%.

Norfolk Southern 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.

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