AlphaCore Capital LLC Boosts Position in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

AlphaCore Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 335.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,365 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,822 shares during the quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NSC. Phoenix Financial Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 7,776 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,245,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 10,153 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,933,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 65,764 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $18,987,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 14,391 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $4,155,000 after buying an additional 3,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Navalign LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. 75.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on NSC shares. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $308.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Norfolk Southern from $322.00 to $313.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $319.83.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE NSC opened at $319.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $71.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 12 month low of $236.37 and a 12 month high of $323.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $299.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $296.39.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 21.91%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.49%.

About Norfolk Southern

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.