Opal Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 1,504 Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,504 shares of the railroad operator's stock, valued at approximately $356,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NSC. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 5,678 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $1,333,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Hoge Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $238,000. Members Trust Co increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 2,575 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth $2,860,000. 75.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NSC. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $267.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $247.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $305.00 to $290.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $271.00 to $270.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $267.24.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:NSC traded down $1.88 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $250.25. 1,322,610 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,233,890. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $201.63 and a twelve month high of $277.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $233.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $239.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.32.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last issued 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). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 20.04%. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.49 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern's payout ratio is currently 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.