Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Bought by Moore Capital Management LP

Moore Capital Management LP increased its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 700.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,286 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 82,509 shares during the period. Moore Capital Management LP’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $22,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NSC. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 255,200 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $63,417,000 after acquiring an additional 8,844 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 113,648 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $1,796,000. Grandview Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $918,000. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 5,678 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,333,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on NSC. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $247.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $269.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $298.00 to $259.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $266.10.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 0.2%

NSC stock opened at $223.69 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $225.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $242.76. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $201.63 and a 52 week high of $277.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.30. 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) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.49 earnings per share. Norfolk Southern’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given 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 2.41%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 36.89%.

Norfolk Southern 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.