Saxon Interests Inc. Invests $234,000 in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Saxon Interests Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 991 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NSC. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 662.5% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 122 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. 75.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NSC traded up $3.15 during trading on Thursday, hitting $254.87. 979,908 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,370,691. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $183.09 and a 1 year high of $263.66. The company has a market cap of $62.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.78, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $251.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $225.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by ($0.04). Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 21.06% and a net margin of 15.03%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.42 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 12.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NSC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $250.00 to $233.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $305.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $215.00 to $207.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $252.38.

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.