Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Has $817,000 Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,454 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $817,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,352 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,054,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 8.6% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,604 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $3,073,000 after buying an additional 1,231 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.5% in the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,181 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $4,762,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the third quarter worth $68,000. Finally, BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 0.6% during the third quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 39,342 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $7,748,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NSC. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised Norfolk Southern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $238.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.74.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 1.4 %

NSC stock opened at $244.61 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $60.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.50, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $183.09 and a fifty-two week high of $263.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $252.77 and a 200-day moving average of $231.71.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.87 by ($0.04). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 15.03% and a return on equity of 21.06%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.42 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 67.33%.

About Norfolk Southern

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.