Petix & Botte Co Purchases New Stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Petix & Botte Co acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NSC. Provence Wealth Management Group bought a new position in Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 662.5% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 122 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock traded down $5.08 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $230.47. The company had a trading volume of 1,605,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,327,833. Norfolk Southern Co. has a one year low of $183.09 and a one year high of $263.66. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $249.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $234.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $52.07 billion, a PE ratio of 37.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a $1.35 dividend. 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 2.34%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NSC. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Susquehanna cut their target price on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group cut their target price on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Company 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.