Burney Co. Lowers Holdings in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Burney Co. cut its holdings in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 3.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,017 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 248 shares during the quarter. Burney Co.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,321,359 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $4,813,114,000 after acquiring an additional 232,195 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 31.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,319,010 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,680,910,000 after acquiring an additional 2,710,930 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,159,070 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $983,161,000 after acquiring an additional 138,678 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,998,335 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $947,006,000 after acquiring an additional 29,753 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,128,102 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $740,891,000 after acquiring an additional 189,076 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group cut their target price on Norfolk Southern from $321.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Citigroup cut their target price on Norfolk Southern from $316.00 to $307.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $299.70.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock opened at $283.99 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $285.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.31. The company has a market capitalization of $63.72 billion, a PE ratio of 21.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 52 week low of $201.63 and a 52 week high of $302.24.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.31 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 24.22% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The business’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.25 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 41.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Richard H. Anderson acquired 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $281.86 per share, with a total value of $732,836.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,973,020. The trade was a 59.09% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.