Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Buys 346 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 12,600 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $2,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 662.5% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 122 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NSC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $245.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 29th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays raised Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $305.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE NSC traded up $1.75 during trading on Friday, reaching $235.55. The company had a trading volume of 1,072,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,327,953. The stock has a market cap of $53.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.93, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $249.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $233.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12 month low of $183.09 and a 12 month high of $263.66.

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

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

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

Norfolk Southern 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.