Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Trims Holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board decreased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 32.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,634 shares of the railroad operator's stock after selling 5,558 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $2,750,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter worth $556,797,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 69.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,723,398 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $536,319,000 after acquiring an additional 1,112,261 shares during the period. London Co. of Virginia increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 41.2% in the third quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 1,976,871 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $389,305,000 after acquiring an additional 577,171 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the third quarter worth $103,223,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 23,585.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 351,261 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $83,031,000 after acquiring an additional 349,778 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In other news, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $1,902,593.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $245.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $175.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $261.78.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NSC traded down $4.32 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $226.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,109,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,374,512. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $242.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $51.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12-month low of $183.09 and a 12-month high of $263.66.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.58 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.05 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 11.76%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.32 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.88 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 86.96%.

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.