Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC Buys Shares of 3,695 Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,695 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,162,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in 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 boosted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.7% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $1,084,701,000. Finally, Pentwater Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP now owns 3,019,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $871,646,000 after buying an additional 269,000 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $337.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $337.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $360.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $320.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $351.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $348.00.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NSC stock opened at $334.69 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 1.27. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a one year low of $268.23 and a one year high of $358.60. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $324.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $311.52.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.20. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.02% and a return on equity of 18.21%. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.29 EPS. Norfolk Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.66 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.08%.

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.