Rational Advisors Inc. Makes New $762,000 Investment in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Rational Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,421 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $762,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 40.4% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,447 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,855 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $327,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 64.1% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 4,275 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 185.1% in the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 4,588 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 2,979 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Friday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $316.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Stephens upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $360.00 to $377.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $348.00.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE NSC opened at $348.67 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $332.87 and a 200-day moving average of $315.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 1.27. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 52 week low of $268.23 and a 52 week high of $358.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.20. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.02% and a return on equity of 18.21%. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.29 earnings per share. Norfolk Southern’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.74 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 46.08%.

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.