Vise Technologies Inc. Invests $311,000 in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,327 shares of the railroad operator's stock, valued at approximately $311,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NSC. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Keystone Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Atlantic Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on NSC shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $247.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $267.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $255.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Loop Capital cut shares of Norfolk Southern from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $289.00 to $256.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $266.70.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NSC stock traded up $0.81 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $247.11. 2,785,760 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,220,927. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.63 and a fifty-two week high of $277.60. 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 company has a market capitalization of $55.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.30. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $228.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $240.92.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.72 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 21.63%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.49 EPS. Research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern's dividend 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.