Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC Takes $227,000 Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 966 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,089,164 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $4,714,927,000 after purchasing an additional 139,485 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 11.9% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 918,559 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,694,573 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,098,472,000 after acquiring an additional 113,648 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,020,392 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $945,385,000 after acquiring an additional 580,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,073,933 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $721,452,000 after purchasing an additional 371,589 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered their price target on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $293.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $305.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $266.10.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 1.5 %

Norfolk Southern stock opened at $218.85 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $227.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $243.52. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $201.63 and a 52 week high of $277.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.34 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.72 by ($0.03). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 20.04%. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 36.89%.

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.