NorthRock Partners LLC Has $584,000 Stock Holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

NorthRock Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 189.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,489 shares of the railroad operator's stock after purchasing an additional 1,630 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC's holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $584,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,089,164 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $4,714,927,000 after purchasing an additional 139,485 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,608,080 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $2,020,318,000 after purchasing an additional 918,559 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,020,392 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $945,385,000 after purchasing an additional 580,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,968,582 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $931,426,000 after purchasing an additional 75,865 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and set a $255.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $269.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Norfolk Southern in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $293.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $266.50.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 1.0%

NSC traded down $2.34 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $243.76. 894,540 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,207,019. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1-year low of $201.63 and a 1-year high of $277.60. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $226.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $242.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.72 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.99 billion for 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 firm's quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern's dividend payout ratio is 36.89%.

About Norfolk Southern

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.