Amalgamated Bank Sells 3,319 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Amalgamated Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,696 shares of the railroad operator's stock after selling 3,319 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank's holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $12,929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 63.7% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,393 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 206,376 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $48,783,000 after buying an additional 49,278 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 131,823 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $31,160,000 after buying an additional 4,673 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 833,075 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $196,922,000 after buying an additional 7,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC stock traded up $1.75 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $235.55. The stock had a trading volume of 1,072,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,324,604. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52-week low of $183.09 and a 52-week high of $263.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $250.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $233.40. The company has a market cap of $53.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.58 by ($0.09). Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 11.76%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.32 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern's payout ratio is 86.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NSC. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $272.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $262.32.

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.

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