Piedmont Capital Management LLC NC Acquires Shares of 1,828 Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Piedmont Capital Management LLC NC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,828 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $528,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 1.3% during the 4th 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. State Street Corp increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,710,549 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,803,630,000 after purchasing an additional 379,819 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,878,029 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,401,797,000 after acquiring an additional 36,205 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $1,084,701,000. Finally, Pentwater Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $826,128,000. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $320.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Argus raised Norfolk Southern to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Norfolk Southern from $322.00 to $313.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Norfolk Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $322.71.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC stock opened at $314.05 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $308.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $300.20. The company has a market capitalization of $70.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.46, a PEG ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 1.27. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 52-week low of $247.85 and a 52-week high of $326.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.91% and a return on equity of 18.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.12 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.