Woodline Partners LP Acquires Shares of 6,454 Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,454 shares of the railroad operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,515,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Keystone Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Atlantic Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NSC. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $305.00 to $290.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $267.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $247.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Stephens upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $266.50.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 1.4%

NSC stock traded up $3.32 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $245.86. 1,399,883 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,213,535. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.63 and a fifty-two week high of $277.60. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $227.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $241.59. The company has a market capitalization of $55.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.27, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.49 EPS. The business's revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

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

Norfolk Southern Company 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.