Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 52.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,102 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 5,857 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $4,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $1,084,701,000. Pentwater Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter valued at about $826,128,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 545.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,306,203 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $392,396,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103,748 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $329,629,000. Finally, HBK Investments L P boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 67.7% in the 4th quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 2,130,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $614,974,000 after purchasing an additional 860,000 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on NSC. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $330.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Norfolk Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Norfolk Southern from $296.00 to $292.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $308.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $320.35.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NSC opened at $322.85 on Monday. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a twelve month low of $257.49 and a twelve month high of $326.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $72.51 billion, a PE ratio of 27.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50 day moving average is $312.52 and its 200 day moving average is $302.01.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.91% and a return on equity of 18.30%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.12 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.49%.

Norfolk Southern Profile

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.