Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) Shares Sold by Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd

Key Points

• Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd has drastically reduced its stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation by 96.5%, now holding only 1,334 shares after selling 37,074 shares, valued at $316,000 at the quarter's end.
• Norfolk Southern recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $3.29, surpassing analyst expectations, and a net margin of 27.40%.
• The company's quarterly dividend will be $1.35 per share, with a current dividend yield of 1.94%, scheduled for payment on August 20th.

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd decreased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 96.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,334 shares of the railroad operator's stock after selling 37,074 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd's holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $224,000. Allianz SE acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $187,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 357,722 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $83,957,000 after acquiring an additional 20,440 shares during the period. Finally, RWA Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,105 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $1,198,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NSC. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $288.00 price objective (up previously from $282.00) on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $247.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $285.15.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 1.2%

NSC traded down $3.43 on Friday, hitting $274.57. The company had a trading volume of 2,727,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,852,299. The firm has a market cap of $61.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.31. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 1 year low of $201.63 and a 1 year high of $288.11. The company's fifty day moving average price is $259.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $244.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.24 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 27.51% and a return on equity of 19.35%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. Norfolk Southern's payout ratio is currently 36.49%.

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.