Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys Shares of 13,700 Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,700 shares of the railroad operator's stock, valued at approximately $3,238,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NSC. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,933,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,444,000. Pathstone Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 200.1% in the third quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 16,077 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $3,198,000 after purchasing an additional 10,719 shares during the period. ClearBridge Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,973,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 9.8% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 187,259 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $36,877,000 after purchasing an additional 16,727 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on NSC. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $245.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $262.33.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $245.57. 841,900 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,289,964. The company has a market cap of $60.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.30. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $253.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $230.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.24. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $183.09 and a 52 week high of $263.66.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.87 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 15.03% and a return on equity of 21.06%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.42 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Norfolk Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 67.33%.

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.