AJOVista LLC Takes Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

AJOVista LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 812 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $192,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 69.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,723,398 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $536,319,000 after buying an additional 1,112,261 shares during the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 41.2% in the third quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 1,976,871 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $389,305,000 after buying an additional 577,171 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern in the third quarter worth approximately $103,223,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 23,585.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 351,261 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $83,031,000 after buying an additional 349,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 3.2% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,629,330 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,699,371,000 after purchasing an additional 264,031 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on NSC. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Norfolk Southern in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $277.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $245.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NSC stock traded up $1.75 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $235.55. The stock had a trading volume of 1,072,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,327,953. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $183.09 and a 52 week high of $263.66. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $249.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $233.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.58 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 11.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is presently 86.96%.

About Norfolk Southern

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.