Aventail Capital Group LP Trims Holdings in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Aventail Capital Group LP decreased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 15.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,349 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 5,356 shares during the quarter. Aventail Capital Group LP’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $9,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 75.0% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 84 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 207.1% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 86 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. MMA Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the second quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 68.9% in the third quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 103 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NSC. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $304.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Norfolk Southern from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $354.00 to $297.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Zacks Research raised Norfolk Southern from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $308.95.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NSC opened at $289.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $64.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $300.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.10. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 1 year low of $201.63 and a 1 year high of $319.94.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 23.59% and a return on equity of 18.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.04 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 42.35%.

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.