ING Groep NV Buys 43,895 Shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 151.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,899 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,895 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $21,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,825,837 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $6,012,836,000 after purchasing an additional 272,651 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,878,029 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,401,797,000 after purchasing an additional 36,205 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter worth $1,084,701,000. Pentwater Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the third quarter worth $826,128,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 5.8% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,179,610 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $654,757,000 after purchasing an additional 118,697 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $330.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $296.00 to $292.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Argus raised shares of Norfolk Southern to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $313.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, UBS Group set a $327.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $322.71.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NYSE NSC opened at $313.88 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $305.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $299.20. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 1 year low of $247.85 and a 1 year high of $326.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 1.27.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.16. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.91% and a return on equity of 18.30%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.11 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 45.49%.

Norfolk Southern Profile

Norfolk Southern Corporation is a major U.S. freight railroad company that provides rail transportation and related logistics services. As a Class I carrier, the company operates an extensive network across the eastern United States and offers scheduled freight service for a broad range of industries. Its core operations include long-haul and regional rail freight transportation, intermodal services that move containers and trailers between rail and other modes, and terminal and switching services that support efficient rail shipments for industrial and port customers.

The company transports a variety of commodities, serving sectors such as coal and energy, automotive and automotive parts, chemicals, agriculture, metals and construction materials, and consumer goods.