Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Purchased by IFG Advisory LLC

IFG Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 18.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,435 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 839 shares during the quarter. IFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Highland Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 21,672 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $5,123,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 now owns 3,884 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $918,000 after buying an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $267,000. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $218,000. Finally, Red Door Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,550 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NSC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley downgraded Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays raised shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $305.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $245.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $250.00 to $233.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $248.94.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock opened at $251.72 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $61.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $183.09 and a twelve month high of $263.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $250.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $225.12.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 21.06% and a net margin of 15.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 12.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 67.33%.

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.