Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Bought by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,456 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,762,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boltwood Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 2,145 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Cadinha & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 1,896 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 23.6% during the third quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 262 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.5% during the third quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 10,454 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,059,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 4,403 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NSC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. 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. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $262.74.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 0.4 %

Norfolk Southern stock traded up $1.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $241.28. The stock had a trading volume of 961,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,271,173. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $252.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $230.80. The firm has a market cap of $59.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.08, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $183.09 and a twelve month high of $263.66. 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 (NYSE:NSC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 15.03% and a return on equity of 21.06%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.42 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.33%.

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.